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

111. Concerning His Ascension and His Second Coming

Thus all the Prophets and many of the early Fathers prophesied concerning His
Ascension and His Second Coming to judge the living and the dead.

And DAVID said concerning His Resurrection, “He hath gone up into the heights.
Thou hast made captive captivity, and hast given grace to the children of men.”
And he also said, Having gone forth, I will come back, and I will return from the
abyss of the sea.”
And again he said, “Sing ye unto God Who hath gone up into the heavens, the heavens
which are opposite the morning.”

Thus AMOS the Prophet prophesied and said, “The Messiah, Who made the time of
the morning, hath come and is exalted from the earth into the heights: and His Name
is God Who ruleth all things.”

Thus prophesied DAVID the Prophet and said, “Thou art exalted, O Lord, by Thy
might, and we will praise and hymn Thy strength.”

Thus prophesied ZECHARIAH the Prophet and said, “His foot standeth on the Mount
of Olives to the east of JERUSALEM. And He rideth upon the Cherubim, and He flieth
upon the wing of the winds.”

Thus DAVID said, “Open ye the gates of the princes, and let the doors which were
from the creation be opened, and the King of glory shall come! Who is this King
of glory? God, the mighty and strong One, God, the mighty One in battle.” And he
also made known and said, “Open ye the gates of princes, and let the doors which
were from the creation be opened, and the King of glory shall come! Who is this
King of glory? The Lord God of Hosts is this King.”

And again concerning His comingHe shall judge the living and the deadHe to
Whom belongeth glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Thus ZECHARIAH the Prophet prophesied and said, “That day the Lord my God shall
come, and all His saints with Him.”

Thus DAVID the Prophet prophesied and said, “God spake once, and this according
(to what) I have heard: Compassion belongeth unto God. And Thine, O Lord, is the
power, for Thou wilt reward every man according to his work.”

Thus spake DANIEL the Prophet and said, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold,
there came (one) like unto the Son of man to the Ancient of Days, and there were
given unto him dominion, and glory, and sovereignty, and all the nations and peoples
and countries shall serve Him, and His dominion shall have no end for ever and ever.
Amen.”

And all the Prophets prophesied, and nothing that hath happened hath been without
the prophecy of the Prophets. And they have declared everything that hath happened,
and what shall happen, what hath been done and what shall be done, and that which
belongeth to the times of old and that which belongeth to the latter days up to
His Second Coming. And this they have done not only by what they have prophesied
and declared, but together with their prophecies they have given manifestations
of Him in their bodies. And there was a famine in the land of CANAAN, and our father
ABRAHAM went down to EGYPT, and came back with much riches and honour without blemish.
And in like manner our Redeemer went down and delivered the Church, the Assembly
of the Nations, and He went up (again), having gotten honour and praise.

112. How the Prophets foreshadowed Him in their persons

ISAAC commanded his father, saying, “Bind me”; and he was offered up as a sacrifice,
though he did not die, being redeemed by the ram which came down from heaven. And
in like manner the Son of God was obedient to His Father even unto death. And He
was bound with the love of men, and He was nailed (to the Cross) and was pierced,
and the Son of God became our ransom, and His Godhead suffered not.

Thus JACOB his son departed to the land of L(LABAN), the country of his mother’s
brother, with his staff only, and there he made many cattle, and acquired beasts
both clean and unclean, and he begot twelve sons, and he revealed baptism, and returned
to his own country where he received a blessing from ISAAC his father. And in like
manner our Lord CHRIST came down from heaven, the Word of Godhead by Itself; and
the staff of JACOB wherewith he pastured his sheep is our Lady MARY our salvation.
And moreover, the staff signifieth the wood of the Cross whereby, being crucified
upon it, He redeemed His flock and took possession of us from among the JEWS, and
the heathen, and the GENTILES. And He chose for Himself Twelve Apostles, and they
made the people believe in all the earth and in every country, and He went up to
heaven to His Father.

Thus MOSES departed to the country of MIDIAN, and there he held converse with
God, Who made him to learn and to know the belief in the resurrection from the dead
of his fathers ABRAHAM, ISAAC, and JACOB. And by means of his staff (or, rod) He
endowed him with the power to perform miracles; and he begot two sons. And this
showeth clearly that we shall be saved by the Trinity. As the mouth of God proclaimed,
“I am the God of ABRAHAM”this of the Father”and the God of ISAAC”this of the
Son”and the God of JACOB”when He saith this it is of the Holy Ghost indicating
the Trinity clearly and plainly. “I am not the God of the dead, but the God of the
living,”
for they all are alive with God; and by this the Resurrection of the dead is to
be understood.

JONAH was swallowed up and cast into the belly of the great fish; and our Redeemer
went down into the heart of the earth, and rose again the third day. And DANIEL
was cast into the pit of the lions, and (the king and the lords) sealed it with
their seals; and he rose up therefrom without the lions devouring him. And similarly
our Lord was cast into the grave, and the JEWS sealed it with their seals, imagining
that they were sealing up the rising of the sun so that it should not shine. O ye
foolish, wicked, blasphemous, blind, and weak-minded men, would ye assert that the
Spirit of Life should not appear and come forth? And the JEWS were put to shame,
and He went forth to illumine us who have believed upon Him.

JOSEPH was sold by the hand of his brethren, and our Lord was sold by the hand
of JUDAH. And JOSEPH where he was sold delivered his brethren from the famine, and
CHRIST hath delivered us who believed upon Him and hath made us His heirs and His
brethren. And as JOSEPH gave an inheritance unto his kinsfolk in the land of GHAM
(GOSHEN), so shall (CHRIST) give unto His righteous ones a habitation, an everlasting
inheritance.

And moreover, in order that ye may know, and understand, and be certain about
the resurrection of the dead, I will give you a sign, which ye shall understand
by the guidance of His word. When ABRAHAM had come unto the land of (his) inheritance
he bought first of all a tomb wherein to gather together the dead bodies of his
kinsfolk, and his children, and his wife, so that he might join them in the resurrection;
and there he buried his wife SARAH and he himself was buried. For he was a prophet,
and he knew that he would be raised up with his kin. And ISAAC and REBEKAH his wife
were also buried there. And it remained their possession from the time when JACOB
went down to the land of EGYPT with seventy-seven souls, because of the famine and
because JOSEPH his son (was there), until their number became six hundred thousand
marching men who were equipped for war, without (reckoning) women and children.
And JACOB died in EGYPT at a good old age, and he said unto JOSEPH his son, “I adjure
thee by the life of my father and by my God, Who is the renewer of my life, that
thou bury me not in this country, but in the tomb of my fathers, so that my death
may be with them and my life subsequently with them.”
Know then by this similitude of the word. And JOSEPH his son carried ISRAEL and
buried him by the grave of his fathers, for he reverenced the oath which JACOB had
made him to swear.

And again, when JACOB fell sick in EGYPT he called his brethren and his children,
and made them to swear that they would not leave his bones in the land of EGYPT,
and said, “When God maketh you to return take ye my bones with you and mingle them
in the grave of my fathers.”

113. Concerning the Chariot and the Vanquisher of the Enemy

And the Archbishops (or, Patriarchs) answered and said unto GREGORY, the Worker
of Wonders, “Behold now, we know well, and thou hast made us to understand that
the Kings of ETHIOPIA have become glorious and great through ZION. And the Kings
of Ralso have become great because of the nails (of the Cross) that HELENA made
into a bridle, which hath become the vanquisher of the enemy for the King of R
And the chariot belongeth to the King of ETHIOPIA, and it hath vanquished his enemy.
And tell us also how long the vanquisher of the enemy shall remain with the King
of R and the chariot containing ZION with the King of ETHIOPIA. Tell us, for
God hath revealed unto thee what hath been, and what shall be, vision and prophecy,
like MOSES and ELIJAH.”

And GREGORY answered and said unto them, “I will reveal unto you concerning the
King of Rwhen he shall transgress and shall provoke God to wrath in the faith.
This faith which we have ordered and laid down shall a king transgress who shall
come in R and there shall be associated with him a certain archbishop, and they
shall change and pervert the word of the Twelve Apostles, and they shall cast it
aside in the desire of their heart(s), and they shall teach what they wish, and
they shall turn the Scriptures to suit their own nature, even as the Apostle saith,
‘They have behaved themselves like (the people of) SODOM and GOMORRAH.’
And our Lord said unto His disciples in the Gospel, ‘Guard ye yourselves against
those who shall come unto you in the apparel of sheep, and who are inwardly wolves
that tear.’
And when they have destroyed the faith the vanquisher of the enemy shall be taken
away from them, and there shall be none of those who have changed our faith who
shall sit upon the throne of PETER, and the bowels of their Archbishops shall be
emptied out if they have taken their seat upon it in perverted faith. For the Angel
of God hath been commanded to protect the throne of PETER in R And God shall
take away the vanquisher of the enemy from the king who shall not guard the faith,
and the PERSIANS shall make war upon him and defeat him, and it seemeth to me that
his name is MARCION the Apostate. And the King of PERSIA, whose name is HAR
(IRENAEUS) shall conquer (?) him, and the king shall carry him away, together with
his horse, and by the Will of God the horse on which is the vanquisher of the enemy
shall be stirred up, and shall go into the sea and perish therein. But the nails
shall shine there in the sea until CHRIST shall come again in great glory upon a
cloud of heaven, together with power.

“Now this hath God showed me in the pit. And as concerning the King of ETHIOPIA,
and ZION, the Bride of heaven, and her chariot whereby they move, I will declare
unto you that which my God hath revealed unto me and hath made me to understand.
(ETHIOPIA) shall continue in the orthodox faith until the coming of our Lord, and
she shall in no way turn aside from the word of the Apostles, and it shall be so
even as we have ordered until the end of the world.

And one answered and said unto the Worker of Wonders (i.e., GREGORY), “Now when
SAMY cometh, who is the False Christ (ANTICHRIST), will the faith of the people
of ETHIOPIA be destroyed by his attack?” And GREGORY answered and said, “Assuredly
not. Hath not DAVID prophesied saying, ‘ETHIOPIA shall make her hands come to God?’
And this that he saith meaneth that the ETHIOPIANS will neither pervert nor change
this our faith and what we have ordered, and the faith of those who were before
us, the teachers of the Law of the Apostles.”

114. Concerning the return of ZION

And the Tabernacle of the Law of God, the Holy ZION, shall remain here until
that day when our Lord shall dwell on Mount ZION; and ZION shall come and shall
appear unto all prepared, with three sealseven as MOSES gave heras it saith in
the Old Law and in the New, “At the testimony of two or three (witnesses) everything
shall stand.”
And then, saith ISAIAH the Prophet, “The dead shall be raised up, and those who
are in the graves shall live, for the dew which (cometh) from Thee is their life.”
And when the dead are raised up, His mercy whereby He watereth the earth shall cease;
they shall stand up before Him with the works which they have done. And ENOCH and
ELIAS shall come, being alive, so that they may testify, and MOSES and AARON from
the dead shall live with everyone. And they shall open the things that fetter her
(i.e., ZION), and they shall make to be seen the JEWS, the crucifiers, and they
shall punish them and chide them because of all that they have done in perverting
the Word of God. And the JEWS shall see what He wrote for them with His handthe
Words of His Commandment, and the manna wherewith He fed them without toil (on their
part), and the measure thereof; the G, and the spiritual ZION, which came down
for their salvation, and the rod of AARON, which blossomed after the manner of MARY.

115. Concerning the Judgement of ISRAEL

And He shall answer and say unto them, “Why did ye deny Me, and entreat Me evilly
and crucify Me, (seeing that) I did all this for you, and that by My coming down
(from heaven) I delivered you from SATAN and from the slavery of SATAN, and that
I came for your sakes? Look ye and see how ye pierced Me with nails and thrust the
spear through Me.” And the Twelve Apostles shall be raised up, and they shall pass
judgement upon them, and shall say unto them, “We would have made you hear, but
ye would not hear the prophecy of the Prophets and the preaching of us the Apostles.”
And the JEWS shall weep and repent when it shall be useless to do so, and they shall
pass into everlasting punishment; and with the Devil, their father who had directed
them, and his demons who had led them astray, and with the wicked they shall be
shut in.

And those who have believed and who have been baptized in the Holy Trinity, and
have received His Body and His Blood, shall become His servants with their whole
heart, for “there is no one who can hate His Body altogether.” The Body of CHRIST
crieth out in our Body, and He hath compassion because of His Body and Blood, for
they have become His sons and His brethren. And if there be some who have sinned
they shall be judged in the fire according to the quantity of their sins; he whose
burden of sin is light his punishment shall be light, and he whose burden of sin
is heavy, exceedingly great shall his punishment be. One day with God is as a period
of ten thousand years; some there shall be who shall be punished for a day; and
some for half a day, and some for three hours of a day, and some for one hour of
a day; and some there shall be who shall be tested and who shall be absolved from
their transgressions.

116. Concerning the Chariot of ETHIOPIA

And the Archbishops answered and said unto GREGORY, the Worker of Wonders, “Behold
now, thou hast told us concerning the vanquisher of the enemy of R and now (tell
us) of the chariot of ETHIOPIA and whether it shall remain henceforward, to the
Coming of CHRIST, as thou hast told us concerning ZION, and concerning the faith
of the people of ETHIOPIA, and likewise if their chariot shall remain.” And GREGORY
said unto them, “It shall assuredly not disappear. And again, hearken ye unto me
and I will declare this unto you: A few JEWS shall lift up their heads against our
faith in NR and in ARMENIA in the days after this, and this God will do by His
Will so that He may destroy them, for ARMENIA is a territory of Rand NR
is a territory of ETHIOPIA.”

117. Concerning the King of Rand the King of
ETHIOPIA

And the King of R and the King of ETHIOPIA, and the Archbishop of ALEXANDRIAnow
the men of Rwere orthodoxwere informed that they were to destroy them. And
they were to rise up to fight, to make war upon the enemies of God, the JEWS, and
to destroy them, the King of RY and the King of ETHIOPIA PINḤAS (PHINEHAS);
and they were to lay waste their lands, and to build churches there, and they were
to cut to pieces JEWS at the end of this Cycle in twelve cycles of the moon. Then
the kingdom of the JEWS shall be made an end of and the Kingdom of CHRIST shall
be constituted until the advent of the False Messiah. And those two kings, JUSTINUS
the King of Rand K the King of ETHIOPIA, met together in JERUSALEM. And
their Archbishop was to make ready offerings and they were to make offerings, and
they were to establish the Faith in love, and they were to give each other gifts
and the salutation of peace, and they were to divide between them the earth from
the half of JERUSALEM, even as we have already said at the beginning of this book.
And for love’s sake they were to have jointly the royal title (of King of ETHIOPIA).
They were to be mingled with DAVID and SOLOMON their fathers. The one whom in faith
they chose by lot to be named from the Kings of Rwas to be called “King of ETHIOPIA”,
and the King of Rlikewise was to bear the name of “King of ETHIOPIA”, and he
was to have part in the lot whereby he should be named with DAVID and SOLOMON their
fathers, after the manner of the Four Evangelists. And the fourth the one whom they
were to choose each in his own country. . .

And thus after they had become united in a common bond, and had established the
right faith they were to determine that the JEWS were no longer to live, and each
of them was to leave his son there; and the King of ETHIOPIA was to leave there
his firstborn son whose name was ISRAEL, and was to return to his own country in
joy. And when he came to his royal house, he was to give abundant thanks unto God,
and to offer up his body as an offering of praise to his God. And God shall accept
him gladly, for he shall not defile his body after he hath returned, but he shall
go into a monastery in purity of heart. And he shall make king his youngest son,
whose name is GABRA MASḲAL, and he himself shall shut himself up (in a monastery).
And when one hath told this to the King of NR, the son of K, he shall come
in order to reign over ZION, and GABRA MASḲAL shall make his armies to rise up,
and he shall journey in a chariot, and they shall meet together at the narrow end
of the Sea of L and shall fight together. And on the same night the two of them
shall pray from sunset until the dawn, when the fight waxeth strong upon them. And
when they have cried out to Him with tears God will look upon the prayer of both
of them, and the penitent prayer of their father, and will say, “This one is the
elder and he hath stood up to perform the will of his father, and that one, the
younger, hath loved his father, and hath prayed to God (for him).” And God will
say to GABRA MASḲAL, “Choose thou between the chariot and ZION,” and He will cause
him to take ZION, and he shall reign openly upon the throne of his father. And God
will make ISRAEL to choose the chariot, and he shall reign secretly and he shall
not be visible, and He will send him to all those who have transgressed the commandment
of God. And no one shall build houses, and they shall live in tents, and none shall
suffer fatigue in labouring, and none shall suffer thirst on the journey. And their
days shall be double of those of (ordinary) men, and they shall use bows and arrows,
and shall shoot at and pierce him that God hateth.

Thus hath God made for the King of ETHIOPIA more glory, and grace, and majesty
than for all the other kings of the earth because of the greatness of ZION, the
Tabernacle of the Law of God, the heavenly ZION. And may God make us to perform
His spiritual good pleasure, and deliver us from His wrath, and make us to share
His kingdom. Amen.

And they answered and said unto him, “Verily, thou hast spoken well, for thus
was it revealed unto thee by the help of the Holy Spirit. Thou hast told us everything
which hath taken place, and thou art in agreement with the book of DAM (DOMITIUS)
of R And thou hast prophesied also what shall happen to the two cities, the
brides of CHRIST, the Churches NESTYand ARḲY and M and ETHIOPIA,
the great cities of God, wherein pure sacrifices and offerings shall be offered
up at all times.

May God show us His grace! The blessing of all the saints and martyrs (be with
us) for ever and ever! Amen. CHRIST is our King, and in CHRIST is our life for ever
and ever. Amen. And Amen.”

Colophon

In the Arabic text it is said: “We have turned (this book) into Arabic from a
Coptic manuscript (belonging to) the throne of MARK the Evangelist, the teacher,
the Father of us all. We have translated it in the four hundred and ninth year of
mercy in the country of ETHIOPIA, in the days of GABRA MASḲAL the king, who is called
LAL in the days of AbbGEORGE, the good bishop. And God neglected to have
it translated and interpreted into the speech of ABYSSINIA. And when I had pondered
thisWhy did not ABAL‛EZ and ABALFAROG who edited (or, copied) the book
translate it? I said this: It went out in the days of ZU and they did not translate
it because this book says: Those who reign not being ISRAELITES are transgressors
of the Law. Had they been of the kingdom of ISRAEL they would have edited (or,
translated) it. And it was found in NR.”

“And pray ye for me, your servant ISAAC the poor man. And chide ye me not because
of the incorrectness of the speech of the tongue. For I have toiled much for the
glory of the country of ETHIOPIA, and for the going forth of the heavenly ZION,
and for the glory of the King of ETHIOPIA. And I consulted the upright and God-loving
governor YEBA EGZΒĔ, and he approved and said unto me, ‘Work.’ And I worked,
God helping me, and He did not requite me according to my sins. And pray ye for
your servant ISAAC, and for those who toiled with me in the going out (i.e., production)
of this book, for we were in sore tribulation, I, and YAMHARANA-AB, and ḤEZBA-KREST,
and ANDREW, and PHILIP, and MAḤAB. May God have mercy upon them, and may He
write their names in the Book of Life in the kingdom of heaven, with those of all
the saints and martyrs for ever and ever! Amen.”