Words of Gad the Seer
Printed for the first time from Cambridge MS 00.1.20
Copied at Cochin, India in the 18th century
Translated into English by beir Bar-llan, Ph. D.
Words of Gad the Seer
I
1 In the thirty-first year of King David in Jerusalem, which is the thirty-eighth year of the reign of David, the word of the Lord was upon Gad the Seer in the month of Ziv, near the stream of Qidron, saying:
2 ‘Thus saith the Lord: Go thou, gird up they loins like a man, and stand in the middle of the stream, and cry in a great voice: Terry and hasten, terry and hasten, terry and hasten, for there is yea a vision for the son of Jesse.
3 And during the cry your face should turn to the east, east of the city, and spread forth your hands toward heaven’
4 And I did according to what I had been commanded.
5 And it came to pass when I finished calling that cry, I opened mine eyes and saw a yoke of oxen led by a donkey and a camel, coming up from the stream of Qidron, the donkey on the right side o the yoke and the camel on the left.
6 And a great voice was going before them like the roll of thunder, crying in a bitter voice, saying:
7 ‘Seer, Seer, Seer, these are four mixtures that confuse the people of the Lord.
8 ‘For the impure and the pure have been mixed, and purity had been put under the hand if impurity; a mixture from Seir to rule over them,
9 to increase power over a righteous doer and thus to betray,
10 to destroy holiness, to crown wickedness, to set up matters of impurity in the guise of purity’.
11 And after the voice came a great shock that shook over the impurity and blew away the donkey and the camel into the Moon with a stormy wind.
12 And the Moon was opened and looked like a bow, a semi-circle, and both her heads reached the ground.
13 And, lo, the Sun came out of Heaven in the shape of a man, with a crown on his head, carrying over his right shoulder, a lamb, rejected and despised.
14 And on the crown on his head three shepherds are seen, shackeled with twelve shackels
15 and these shackles were of gold coated with silver. and thevoice of the lamb was heard,great and dreadful like the voice of a lion roaring over his prey: ‘Woe unto me! Woe unto me! Woe unto me! My image has been diminished, my refuge has been lost, my lot and destiny has turned me over to my spoilers, and I was defiled until evening by the touch of impurity’.
16 And it came to pass when the voice of the lamb was over, and, lo, a man dressed in linen came with three branches of vine and twelve palms in his hand.
17 And he took the lamb from the hand of the Sun and put the crown on its head, and the vine-branches and palms on his heart.
18 And the man, dressed in linen, cried like a ram’s horn, saying; ‘What hast thou here, impurity, and who hast thou here, impurity, and thou hast hewed thee a place in purity, and in my covenant
19 that I have set with the vine-branches and palms’.
20 And I have heard the lamb’s shepherd saying: ‘There is a place for the pure, not for the impure, with me, for I am a holy God, and I do not want the impure, only the pure.
21 Though both are creations of my hands, and my eyes are equally open on both.
22 But there is an advantage to the abundance of purity over the abundance of impurity just like the advantage of a man over a shadow.
23 For the shadow does not come except by man, and only by the existence of the man is the shadow given to the tired and exhausted, to pure and impure, this matter is even so.
24 For all gates of intelligence are turned around since the death of the eight branches of the vine.
25 As is found in the words of righteousness, in the true book but because of the wanderings of the sheep their rest and divisions – intelligence is stoped up
26 until I do greatly in keeping grace’.
27 I saw that impurity was driven from the Moon and was given to the hand of consuming wrath, ground finely to dust and scattered by the daily wind.
28 and the day burneth as a furnace to transfer impurity and to erase the transgressions.
29 And the lamb was put on the (moon) [Sun] for ever and ever.
30 And the lamb took of the pure, that had been mixed with the impure, and brought it as a peace-offering sacrifice on the alter before El Shaddai Jealous Lord of hosts.
31 And I heard the sound of the song of the lamb, saying:
32 ‘I shall give thanks unto Thee, O Lord, for though Thou wast angry with me, You relented.
33 For the Lord is my strength and song, and He is become my redeemer.
34 I will sing unto the Lord, for He is highly exalted; The horse and his rider hath He thrown into the Sea of Reeds.
35 Rise up, Intelligence; Rise up, Power; Rise up, Kingship; Rise up, Majesty and Glory!
36 Rise up to help the Lord!
37 For God has saved one who had strayed and obliterated the impurity from the Earth.
38 He fought my fight and brought into the light my righteousness by His help.
39 My help cometh from Shaddai who made heaven and earth.
40 Verily, who is like unto Thee, O Lord? Verily, who is like unto Thee, glorious in holiness? – but not in impurity!
41 For You are great over all, raised over all, You spoke and acted.
42 For You declared the end from the beginning, and You sealed everything with Your words and turned my heart and tormented me.
43 For Your seal is on me, my Lord, and these are three branches of the vine and twelve palms that are on my heart.
44 You gave me grandeur, You erased vanity to fear man, and You gave me a pure heart for ever.
45 For that I will praise Thee at all times, and thank You among the nations, for You have redeemed me greatly for my King and did favor to David the anointed and his seed for ever and ever’.
46 And I heard a voice crying from heaven saying:
47 ‘You are My son, you are My firstborn, you are My first-fruit.
48 Have I not brought you from over Shihor to be my daily delight?
49 But you have thrown my presents away and dressed up the impure with pure, and that is why all these things happened to you.
50 And who is like unto Thee, among all creatures on earth? For in your shadow lived all these and by thy wunds they were healed!
51 For that consider well that which is before thee.
52 And because you have fulfilled the words of the shepherd all the days you have been in the Sun and you did not leave them, therefore all this honor shall occur to you’.
53 And I, Gad son of Ahimelech of the Jabez family of the tribe of Judah son of Israel, was amazed by the scene and could not control my spirit.
54 And the one dressed in linen came down to me and touched me, saying: ‘Write these words and seal with the seal of truth for “I am that I am” is My name, and with My name thou shalt bless all the house of Israel for they are a true seed.
55 Thou shalt go, for yet a little while, for thou art gathered quietly to thy fathers, and at the end of days thou shalt see with thy own eyes all these, not as a vision but in fact.
56 For in those days they shall not be called Jacob but Israel for in their remnant no iniquity is found for they belong entirely to the Lord.
57 And these words will be unto thee a restorer of life and spirit. And this shall be the token unto thee: when thou enterest the town, ye shall find my servant David while he is reading those words from the Book of Covenant:
58 “And yet for all that, when they are in the land f their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break My covenant with them; for I amd the Lord their God”.
59 And thou shalt tell him about the scene you have just seen when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart’.
60 And it came to pass, when I came to the house of David, the man of God, I found him as tje dressed in linen had said, and I told him of all my visions.
61 Then David spoke unto the Lord the words of this song, saying: ‘I love Thee, O Lord, my strength’.
62 And to me he said: ‘Blessed art thou to the Lord that disclosed His secret to your ears’.
63 And I lifted up my oice, saying ‘Blessed art thou to the Lord that did not remove His covenant from you, for He is true, and His word is true, and His seal is true.
II
64 After these true things I had a divine vision, saying:
65 ‘Set thy face eastward, northward, southward, and westward.
66 And whistle with your mouth as a bird whistles to its chicks and say: Four corners of the earth, listen to the word of the Lord.
67 Thus saith the Lord, who sits and dwells over the cherubs: Give, give, give, take out, take out, take out my seed that I have sown in you, for the time for the seed has come.
68 For yet a little while I shall collect my seed on my threshing-floor.
69 And the threshing-floor will be holy; and impure seed will not be found in it.
70 For before those days my seed was mixed with lentils, and barley, and spelt, beans, and gourd.
71 And in the end of days the sower shall be truth and the seed shall be truth and from the seed of all the land will be blessed.
72 Be joyful and glad, remnant of Judea and the rejected of Israel, for salvation is with the Lord.
73 As ye shall be a cursed and blasphemy to all the families of the earth, so shall you be a blessing and grace for ever.
74 At that time no cursed or unholy people will be found among you
75 for everybody will join you in the covenant in the law, testimonies, statutes, and ordinances.
76 And you and they shall have one God one covenant one law one language, or all shall speak in the Jews’ language, the holy language.
77 Happy art thou, O Israel, who is like unto thee? A people saved by the Lord, for He shall go before you to fight your wars with your enemies.
78 Woe to you, O Edom, that sits in the land of Kittim in the north of the sea.
79 For your destroyers will emerge from a terrible nation not leaving you a remnant.
80 For you said: On high is my seat,and I have knowledge of the god of gods, for the Lord chose me instead of His holy people, for He loathed them.
81 And His former people despised and rejected, did not know the Lord or His image.
82 Verily, we are wise and clever, we know the Lord and His law, we know His image and presence.
83 Therefore thus saith the Lord: becuse you rose so high to talk about god of gods you shall know that you shall perish in your cleverness.
84 For why would you put your confidence in man, in whose nostrils is his breath, which came up in a night, like a day-shadow that passes by, sitting him to sit beside God.
85 For it is not you whom I knew formerly, and where is the bill of divorce of My people, that ye would be a prey, show it to me!
86 Your corpses will fall among My people.
87 O Jealous Lord, come out, come out of your place and thrash Edom, consume them!
88 Come to Zerephath, come to Spharad, come to Ashkenaz, come to Garmania; They came and fell in the nethermost pit, in destruction and in the shadow of death, for your mouth failed you, and no one helps you.
89 At the end of days Michael the great prince shall stand up in war like a whirlwind against Samuel the prince of the world to put him under his feet, in the wind of the Lord and it shall be eaten up; for the Lord hath spoken it.
90 At the end of days the robbed will overcome the robber, and the weak the strong, truly and in righteousness.
91 Your God is your savior, O Israel, with Him you will be saved, for He is a merciful God, He will not abandon you.
92 For thou shalt keep on doing all that I commanded you in the law of Mose My servant’.
III
93 At that time, at the feast of Passover, on the fifteenth of the first month, there came to David a Moabite shepherd who talked to him saying: ‘My lord the King, you have known that your servant was good to Israel from his youth, and now take me from dwelling among uncircumcised people and circumcise the flesh of my foreskin to roll away my reproach, and I will sit among your people’.
94 And David said: ‘the Lord does not want your people, and He commanded “An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of the Lord for ever”, and we can not seek your peace nor your prosperity, and what can I do for you today?’
95 The servant answered: ‘Is it not that Ruth was of our people, and you are one of her children and descendants, and the Lord has chosen you and your descendants for ever?’
96 Then said he [David]: ‘You have said defeating words. Stand here with me to ask from the mouth of my Lord’.
97 And David asked the Lord about the words of the Moabite servant.
98 And David said: ‘Oh Lord, Lord of Hosts, teach me wondrous things out of Thy law so I will know the rule for the servant, and what shall be done with him?’
99 And the Lord said to Nathan the prophet: ‘Go to David my servant, and tell him the word that I tell you’.
100 And Nathan went to David, to his room, saying: ‘Thus saith the Lord of Hosts: I have heard your prayer, so tell the Moabite: it is a Moabite-male you are, not a Moabite-female, For I have not saild Moabite-female and Ammonite-female, for their women and daughters belong to the Lord, however cursed are you by the Lord forbidding you to enter the assembly of the Lord’.
101 When the Moabite heard the words of the Lord he cried a great cry, saying: “I am prevented from entering the assembly of the Lord’.
102 And the king took and appointed him shepherd among the shepherds of david and he was there until the day when Solomon reigned over Israel, for three years, and he died.
103 And he had a daughter whose name was Sephirah, she was of beautiful form and fair to look upon. King Solomon took her to be his concubine, and she found grace and favour in his sight more than all the concubines, and she became the chief of the concubines’ residence.
104 And this was the rule in Israel for ever.
IV
105 In those days a man from Bethlehem, the city of David, went to Jerusalem and his name was Zabad the Parhi of the family of the Perezites to pay the vow which he had vowed unto the Lord.
106 For his father was ick even unto death, and Zabad said: ‘When the Lord raises my father from his sickness, I will weigh and give two talents of silver to the House of the Lord, to the hand of King David’.
107 And it came to pass, as he was at the house of the shepherds on the way, he lost the money in his pocket and he was displeased.
108 He came to the city of Jerusalem, into the inner city, and he wrote on all the city gates these words:
109 ‘Whoever finds the pocket with two talents of silver and brings it to me I will give him one talent of silver as a present’.
110 And a Danite man came and in his hand was the pocket with the bound talents that he had found on the way and he gave it the owner of the pocket.
111 And the Danite said to the Perezite: ‘Give me one talent of silver as you said!’
112 And the Perezite said: ‘No, for there were three talents in my pocket and you have stolen one talent, I was mistaken about their number’.
113 And both of them came and stood before the king.
114 And the king said to the Perezite: ‘Swear to my, by the Lord, that in your pocket were three talents of silver’, and he swore to him.
115 And the king continued saying to the Danite: ‘Swear to me, by the Lord, that you found the pocket with two talents of silver’, and he swore to him, by the Lord.
116 And David said t the Perezite: ‘Give back the pocket with the talents to the Danites for this is his money that the Lord has hidden by chance for him.
117 Now, therefore, go and write on the city gates: ‘Whoever finds the pocket with three talents should bring it to me’, for this is not your pocket.
118 And David took the pocket with the talents of silver from the hand of the Perezite and gave it to the Danite.
119 And the Danite bowed his head and prostrated himself to the earth and said: ‘Long live my lord King David for ever!’
120 And all Israel heard of the judgment and they wondered over David and were joyful for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him.
V
121 And the Philistines assembled themselves together to fight with Israel, people in multitudes that cannot be numbered.
122 And David was greatly distressed for he was afraid of the Philistines.
123 And the Lord said to Gad: ‘Go and tell David my servant not to be worried of these uncircumcised Philistines for tomorrow I will give them and those who oppress you into your hand’.
124 And David said to Gad: ‘I am not worthy of all the mercies that the Lord has done to me and blessed and beatific be the name of the Lord for ever and ever’.
125 At that night a fire-rider came from heaven and his sword was drawn in his hand.
126 And he smote the camp of the uncircumcised a very great slaughter so not one of them was left.
127 And it came to pass on the morrow they came to David saying” behold, the Philistines have been killed by those who rose up against them, none of them is left.
128 And David raised his voice and said: “Now I know that there is no hinderance to the Lord who can save us from many or few, for His salvation is like the blink of an eye’.
129 And he said: ‘Blessed art though, O Lord, who has been taking revenge for us on our enemies’.
130 And he set up a pillar and called it ‘Pillar of Revenge’ unto this day.
VI
131 And the Lord said to Gad: ‘Go to David my servant and tell him:
132 Thus saith the Lord: Let not the mighty man glory in his might.
133 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that My help is with him.
134 Then you should go and fear not for the Lord is with you’.
135 And Gad came and told David the words of the Lord.
136 And David said to Gad: ‘I have known the help of the Lord from my youth.
137 For who smote the lion and the bear? Who smote the Philistine? Who smote my enemies? Was it not the help of God?’
138 And when the Lord heard that, it was well-pleasing in His sight.
139 And He said: ‘Because David has known My help in his glory, for that My help will dwell in the house of David for ever’.
140 And Gad said the words of the Lord to David.
141 And David prostrated himself before the Lord and said: ‘Blessed be the Lord for I have found favour in His eyes’.
VII
142 And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel
143 and he moved Satan against David, saying: ‘Go, number Israel and Judah’, to bring them the evil He spoke through Samuel the Seer.
144 And the King said to Joab the captain and to the princes of the people: ‘Go now to and fro through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even unto Beer-sheba, and number ye the people, and bring me word that I may know the sum of them’.
145 And Joab said unto the king: ‘May the Lord add unto the people, how many soever they may be, a hundredfold, and my the eyes of the Lord our God watch over them; but, my lord king, are they not all my Lord’s servants? Why does my lord require this? and want this? And why will it be a cause of guilt unto Israel? For the Lord has said: ‘which cannot be numbered for multitude’?
146 Notwithstanding, the king’s word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.
147 And they passed over Jordan, and camped in Aroer, southern of the town in the middle of the watercourse of Gad, and [then they went] unto Jazer.
148 And they came to Gilead, and then to the land of Hittites, to Qadesh, and they came to Dan and Enan, and round about to Zidon.
149 And they came to the stronghold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hiveites and the Canaanites. And they went out to the south of Judah, to Beer-sheba.
150 So they went to and fro through all the land, and they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. But Joab did not number Levi and Benjamin, for the king’s word was abominable to Joab.
151 And Joab gave up the of the numbering of the people unto David. And all they of iIsrael were eight hundred thousand valiant men and three hundred thousand men that drew a sword, in in Judah there were four hundred and seventy thousand valiant men and thirty thousand men that drew sword. And the whole number of the men of Israel, except those of Levi and Benjamin that were not numbered with them, were a thousand thousands and a hundred thousand men of valiant and that drew a sword, and men of Judah were five hundred thousand men of valiant that drew a sword.
152 And the Lord God was displeased with this act of Israel, and He sent Gad the Seer to David, saying:
153 ‘Thus said the Lord: I am the King of Israel, and I am their portion, I am their dread, I am their fortress and might, and you know that not a sword or a spear shall I save, and not with a man of valiant that draw a sword, for this is the portion of the heathens that stand on their might, and many warriors.
154 But you are not like that, for I am a man of war, alone and there is no one with me, and why will you do this evil thing to number your people; for that I shall smite Israel, in order that thou mayest know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth’.
155 And David’s heart smote him after that and David said unto the Lord: ‘I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, O Lord, put away, I beseech Thee, the iniquity of Thy servant; for I have acted very foolishly’.
156 And David rose up in the morning and the word of the Lord had already been given to Gad the prophet, David’s seer, saying:
157 ‘Go and speak unto David: Thus saith the Lord: I lay and put upon thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee’.
158 So Gad came to David and told him and said unto him: ‘Shall four years of famine come unto the land of Israel and three years in the land of Judah? or wilt thou flee three months before thy foes while they pursue thee while the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee? or shall there be three days of the sword of the Lord, that is pestilence in thy land, and the angel of the Lord despoils all the land of Israel? Now advise thee, and consider what answer I shall return to Him that sent me’.
159 And David said unto Gad: ‘I am in great straits; let me fall, and let us fall, and let us vall now, into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great; and let me not fall into the hand of man.
160 So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel, from the morning even to the time appointed; and there died from Dan even to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men of the people.
161 And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it; and as he was destroying it, the Lord beheld, and He repented Him of the evil, and said to the angel that was destroying the people: ‘It is enough; now stay thy hand’. And the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
162 And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the Lord standing between the heaven and the earth, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. And David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.
163 And David said unto God: ‘Is it not I that commanded the people t be numbered? Even I it is that have sinned and acted very wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? O Lord my God, let Thy hand be against me and against my father’s house, but not against Thy people, that they should be plagued. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do justice?’
164 And the Lord said: ‘They incited Satan against you to number them, saying thus: we will be like all the nations; but I am a god of Justice, and I return their high heart unto their own bosoms.
165 For a broken or a contrite heart I shall not despise for ever’.
166 And the angel of the Lord told Gad to tell David, that David should go up, and rear an alter unto the Lord on the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
167 And David went up according to the words of Gad which he spoke in the name of the Lord.
168 And Ornan was looking and he saw the king and his four sons coming with him. Now Ornan was threshing weat.
169 And Ornan looked and saw David, and he went out of the threshing-floor, and bowed down to David with his face to the ground.
170 Then David said to Ornan: ‘Give me the place of this threshing-floor, that I may build thereon an alter unto the Lord; for the full price shalt thou give it to me; that the plegue may be stayed from the people’.
171 And Ornan said unto David: ‘Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes; lo, I give the oxen for burnt-offerings, and the threshing-instruments for wood, and the weat for the meal-offering; I give it all’.
172 And King David said to Ornan; ‘Nay, but I will verily buy it for the full price; for I will not take that which is thine for the Lord, nor offer a burnt-offering without payment.
173 So David gave Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold, and for the cattle fifty shekels of silver, current money with the merchants.
174 And David built there an alter unto the Lord, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, and called upon the Lord; and He answered him from heaven by fire upon the alter of burnt-offering.
175 And the Lord commanded the angel; and he put his sword back into the sheath thereof; and the plague was stayed from Israel.
176 At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him on the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, and He did not despise him, then he sacrificed there unto the Lord for the rest of his life.
177 For David could no longer go and sacrifice unto the Lord in the high place at Gibeon, where there was an alter unto the Lord of the tabernacle which Moses made, for he was terrified and weakened because of the sword of the angel of the Lord that he had seen.
VIII
178 And the Lord appeared unto David in the time of his old age and said to him: ‘Behold, I am with thee, and I am your God, and behold, My covenant is with you; fear not, neither be dismayed, for your God is your helper’.
179 And David bowed down to the Lord and rejoiced in his heart.
180 And the Lord said: ‘These are the words you will speak to the ears of the people in My name so they will obey [the words] and they will live, for there will be no more anger on them’.
181 And the Lord put His words in his mouth.
182 Then David assembled all Israel in Jerusalem, and he made to himself a pulpit of wood and stood upon it before all the peole. And he opened his mouth and said:
183 ‘Hear, O Israel, your God and my God is one, the only One and unique, there is no one like His individuality, hidden from all, He was and is and will be, He fills His place but His place doesn’t fill Him, He sees but is not seen, He tells and know futures, for He is God without end and there is no end to his end, Omnipotence, God of truth, whole worlds are full of His Glory.
184 And He gave each one free choice: if one wants to do good – he will be helped, and if one wants to do evil – a path will be opened for him.
185 For that we will worship our God our king our Lord our saviour with love and awe, for your wisdom is the fear of the Lord and your cleverness is to depart from evil.
186 Remember and obey the law of Moses, man of God, that it may be well with thee all days.
187 Ask they fathers and they will declare unto thee; thine elders, and they will tell thee.
188 Be strong and valiant to obey the law and not to hear it only.
189 For a deed is like a root, hearing it is like a seed, a belief is like a tree and the fruit is like righteousness.
190 And what hall we do to a smelly and stinky seed if a root will not come out of it?
191 For that, hurry up! be quick and act, hear and act, for you are true seed, for you have belief and righteousness then the Lord will bless you all in peace.
192 Talk peacefully each with one another, and love the deed and those created in the image of the Lord like your own souls.
193 For if you love [man] the created, it is a sign that you love the Creator.
194 And also, thou shouldest take hold of the one; yea, also from the other withdraw not thy hand; love the Lord and also man that it shall be well with thee all the days’.
195 And David raised up his voice and his hands spread forth toward heaven, and said: ‘Lord, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, God, merciful and gracious, guard Israel for ever.
196 Save Thy peope, and bless Thine inheritance; and tend to them, and carry them for ever’.
197 And all the people called out: ‘Amen Amen’.
198 And David sent the people away and they went home peacefully.
IX
199 And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers unto David saying:
200 ‘I know that the Lord your God is the God, and now deal kindly and truly with me and teach me the law of your God for I will worship Him all my life’.
201 And the messengers came to David with an offering in their hands for the Lord and for David. And they told him the Words of Hiram and presented him with the offering.
202 And David said in reply to Hiram:
203 ‘Go and say to my brother, to Hiram, thus said David your brother: Be afraid of the Lord Creator of heaven and fire, and sea and the earth, the wet the dry the heat and the cold, the mineral the vegetation the living and the speaking
204 the spheres the Pleiades and Orion, the sun and the moon, the substantial and the spiritual, the wondering stars, the senses and everything.
205 All these were created and made without a blemish by El Shadai, his name is the Lord.
206 And if you do this –observing the commandments that were ordered to the children of Noah, your father – then good will be yours all your days.
207 For we are His allies, and are different from you by the law of truth, sealed by the seal of Shadai, called children of God of truth.
208 And therefore (only) we have to obey the whole law for we were commanded by The Name, saying “Speak unto the children of Israel”.
209 And He hath not dealt so with any nation as He did with us, for us He chose and not for any reason but for the great love He loves us’.
210 And the messengers returned and came back to Hiram their king and told hi the words of King David.
211 And Hiram rejoiced in his heart and gathered all his princes and his servants and said to them the following:
212 ‘Listen to me, Tyrians and Sidonians, what I will tell you.
213 Be afraid and fear El Shadai whose name is God of Israel. Everything He dis by speaking and by the breath of His mouth, and who will tell Him what to do, for Hi is one.
214 Say with me: ‘Blessed is the Lord God of Israel who chooses His people, and blessed is David, his servant, king of His people, and blessed is Israel whom the Lord has chosen to be His inheritance.
215 And would that we were slaves to the children of Israel that are called Children of the Lord, their God’.
216 and all his princes and his servants replied: ‘Amen, thus will be done’.
217 And Hiram lifted up his voice, and said: ‘I have seen, but not now, I have beheld but not nigh; There shall step forth a sone from David, and a moon shall rise out of the house of Judah, and shall smite all the children of Ham, and break down all the children of Jephet, and he will possess all the kingdoms of the world.
218 And who is like the Lord, god above all Gods? And who is like Israel, a people above all the nations? may our end be like theirs’.
219 And when the Lord heard the words of Hiram it was well-pleasing in His sight.
220 And the Lord said unto Gad the seer of David as follows:
221 ‘Go unto My servant and tell him My word that I say unto you’.
222 And Gad, the man in whose hand was the word of the Lord, came to David and said: ‘Thus saith the Lord, the God of Hosts: I have heard the words of Hiram, King of Tyre, and the words of his princes and his servants, and they pleased me.
223 Wherefore I shall give him and his people a heart of wisdom and understanding to prepare my house where I put My name, and that will assist his land’s growth, for I have hosen them and shall not despise them’.
224 And David said to Gad: Now I know that the Lord our God gives good reward to all His creatures and to all the deeds He has created, for He is a God of mercy, who dwells on high and looks after in low, and he that is banished will not be an outcast from Him. Blessed be the Lord for evermore; Amen, and Amen’.
225 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him and towards His deeds.
226 Bless the Lord, all ye His works, and in all places of His dominion; bless the Lord, O my soul. Hallelujah.
X
227 At that time David said this praise, saying:
228 ‘I will extol Thee, my God, O King,
and I will bless Thy name for ever and ever.
229 Every day I will bless Thee,
and I will praise Thy name for ever and ever.
230 Great is the Lord and highly praised,
and His greatness is unsearchable.
231 One generation shall laud Thy works to another,
and shall declare Thy mighty acts.
232 And glorious splendour of Thy magisty,
and Thy wondrous works will I rehearse.
233 And men shall speak of the might of Thy tremendous acts,
and I will tell of Thy greatness.
234 And shall utter the fame of Thy great goodness,
and shall sing of Thy righteousness.
235 The Lord is gracious and full of compassion,
slow to anger and of great mercy.
236 The Lord is good to all,
and His tender mercies are over all His works.
237 All Thy works shall praise Thee, O Lord,
and Thy saints shall bless Thee.
238 They shall speak of the glory of Thy kingdom,
and talk of Thy might,
239 To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts,
and the glory of the majesty of His kingdome
240 Thy kingdom is a kingdom for all ages,
and Thy dominion endureth through all generations.
241 All your enemies fell down, O Lord
and all of their might was swallowed up.
242 The Lord lifteth up all those who fall,
and raiseth up all who are bowed down.
343 The eyes of all look to you expectantly,
and Thou givest them their food in due time.
344 Thou openest Thy hands,
and satisfiest every living thing with favour.
345 The Lord is righteous in all His ways,
and gracious in all His works.
346 The Lord is nigh unto all those that call upon Him,
to all that call upon Him in truth.
347 He will fulfill the desire of them that fear Him,
and their cry He will hear and save them.
248 The Lord presereveth all of them that love Him
but all the wicked will He destroy.
249 The praise of the Lord my mouth shall speak,
and let all flesh bless His holy name for ever and ever’.
250 These are the prayers of David praising the Lord on the day
when Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath
the Gittite, and Jonathan the son of Shimea [slew] a man of greatness
stature, saying:
251 ‘Blessed be the Lord my Rock,
who traineth my hands for war,
my fingers for battle.
252 My loving kindness and my fortress,
my high tower and my deliverer,
my shield and He in whom I take refuge;
who subdueth people under me.
253 Lord, what is man that Thou takest knowledge of him?
or the sone of man that Thou makest account of him?
254 Man is like unto a breath;
his days are as a shadow that passeth away.
255 O Lord, bow Thy heavens and come down,
touch the mountains that they may smoke.
256 Cast forth lightning and scatter them,
send out Thine arrows and discomfit them.
257 Stretch forth Thy hand from on high,
rescue me and deliver me out of many waters,
out of the hand of strangers
258 whose mouth speaketh falsehood,
and whose right [hand] is a right of lying.
259 O God, I shall sing a new song unto Thee
upon a psaltery of ten strings shall I sing praise unto Thee.
260 Who givest salvation unto kings,
who rescuest David Thy servant from an evil sword.
261 Rescue me and deliver me out of the hand of strangers,
whose mouth speaketh falsehood,
and whose right [hand] is a right of lying.
262 For our sons are as plants grown up in their youth;
Our daughters are as corner-pillars carved after the fashion of the Temple;
263 our garners are full affording food,
all manor of store;
Our sheep increase by thousands
and ten thousands in our markets;
264 Our oxen are well laden; No breach,
No going forth, No outcry in our ways!
265 Happy is the people that is in such case!
Happy is the people whose God is the Lord!
265b Happy is he who waiteth (for the time) when there will be good to all Israel forever!’
XII
266 These are the words of David before his death, as he poke unto the Lord and Israel and he spoke saying:
267 ‘God, the Blessed, the Great, the only one, Guileless, Just,
268 Dreadful, Benefactor of the miserable, Darling, the Senior, Shaddai,
269 Holy, have mercy upon the vine, thine good inheritance.
270 [The Lord] will answer us, in the day that we call.
271 My Lord, hear my prayer and my supplication, for You hear prayers of all mouths
272 hear and accept the cry of Your people,
273 for they are Your flock and inheritance.
274 Send your light and truth to their help.
275 Give them one heart to worship You, one shoulder, as one man, and they will be one in Your hand.
276 And do not lose any of them, for Your Name is [believed by them] to be one, for (the name of) our fathers and mothers are one.
277 For that: Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.
278 Turn ye not unto the idols, for they are vain and utterly pass away.
279 Only unto God shall ye cleave, for Him be your dread and fortress
280 to defeat your enemies, enemies of spirit and enemies of flesh, beneath your feet.
281 to bring you to Jerusalem that is concealed for your future.
282 And there shall you see Him face to face, in the presence of a living God that is seen face to face. And you are one people, if you grow in belief you will be filled in gates of intelligence.
283 Blessed is the eye that has seen all these!
284 And if you lack in belief, you will reach gates of impurity.
285 For that: cleanse and purify yourself before the Lord, your King, that it shall be well with thee all the days’.
286 And David died on the day of Sabbath after mid-day, in the fortieth year of his reign over Judah and Israel.
287 He was seventy years of age when he died, and he was buried in great honor in the city of David.
288 And the rest of the deeds of David the king, with all his reign and might, and the times that passed over him, and over Israel, and over all the kingdoms of the countries, behold, they are written in the words of Samuel the seer, and in the words of Nathan the prophet.
XIII
289 And Solomon was strengthened in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly.
290 And after that, Tamar, daughter of David, sister of Absalom, went out and fled to the house of King Geshur, and spent a year and eight months, in the house of the king, in the house of her mother.
291 And King Solomon knew nothing of her going for she went secretly, and unto the king and to the people she concealed her going.
292 And King Solomon said: ‘Whoever finds Tamar, my sister from my father, and bring her to me, I shall pay wages, changes of raiment and fifty shekels of gold’.
293 And the King’s servants sought her in all the land of Israel, but they could not find her.
294 and she was hiding at the house of her mother in Geshur, at the house of her mother’s father.
295 And there was a king’s friend whose name was Pirshaz, and he loved the maiden very much, for she was of beautiful form and fair to look upon.
296 In those days the king of Geshur went to see King Solomon, as all the kings of the land [do].
297 King Solomon asked him, saying: ‘Is it well with you?’ and he said: ‘It is well’.
298 And he said: ‘Is it well with the wife of my father David in your house?’ and he said: ‘It is well’. And King Solomon continued asking: ‘Is it well with Tamar, my sister’ – cleverly he asked this – and he said: ‘I have no knowledge, for I never saw her’ – he lied to him.
299 And it came to pass when the king of Geshur was in Jerusalem, his friend, Pirshaz, came to Tamar’s room saying to her: ‘Lie with me’.
300 But Tamar refused to listen to him and said: ‘Let’s not, Milord, let’s not do this wanton deed, for I am a king’s daughter’.
301 Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice, for his love was burning inside him.
302 And Tamar said in her cleverness, for she saw her strength was gone: ‘Listen to me, Milord, to the words of your maid servant.
303 Behold, I know how to play the harp. And you, now, lie down on my knees to hear my song.
304 And after the song of my heart [is over] then I shall do your heart’s desire’. And Pirshaz listened to Tamar and he lay in her bosom.
305 And Tamar took the harp to play it pleasantly, and said in her heart: ‘Lord King of my father David, thy servant.
306 Send your light and your truth to hold me, and do not allow the desire of a wicked uncircumcised and impure man.
307 For you have known what is in my heart, and do not let the daughter of David, your servant, sinner.
308 My father David, my father David, my father David, look at your disgrace and your daughter’s disgrace.
309 Go before the Throne of Glory of Shaddi, and ask for mercy for me, to God of Hosts, to help me by His help.
310 For He does not want the evil of base fellows, and these are His deeds for those who have been robbed who overcome the strong.
311 I beseech Thee, O Lord, save me now! I beseech Thee, O Lord, make me prosper!
312 I call on you on the day I am frightened, and I shall be answered, and do not lose holy seed by impurity of the impure, for you are a holy God, and I trust you.
313 And the Lord heard the voice of David for his daughter, and a sleep from God was fallen upon Pirshaz. And she was playing the harp while he was sleeping in her bosom, because of the pleasant voice of the harp.
314 And when Tamar saw that he had fallen asleep, she took the sword girded upon his loins, and took the sword out of its sheath.
315 And she said: ‘Lord of Hosts, remember David, my father, and give me power from his power and your strength will hold me up.
316 Help me as you helped the wife of Heber the Kenite, to let sins and sinners cease on earth, for they know that You are, Lord, aline’.
317 And she took the sword and drove it into the heart of Pirshaz, and Pirshaz fell down on the ground dead.
318 And Tamar saw that Pirshaz was dead and she said in a loud voice: ’So perish all Thine enemies, and the enemies of Thine people, O Lord.
319 And now I have seen that you have heard my father’s voice, you have plotted and did not let his daughter be disgraced by a base fellow.
320 Blessed art Thou from everlasting and to everlasting, Amen’.
321 And at the time of the midday meal the servants of Pirshaz came to call their master to the king’s table.
322 And they came to the inner room, to Tamar, and found her standing with a reddish sword over the corpse of Pirshaz, and their master was dead, thrown down.
323 And they turned trembling to one another, saying: ‘What is this?’ and they took Tamar and brought her to the King’s ministers.
324 And the king’s servants said t Tamar: ‘What have you done? You have killed the king’s friend! You should know you will be considered disgraced by our master, the king’.
325 And Tamar said: ‘Should one deal with a king’s daughter as with a harlot? His blood shall be upon his head, and I am guiltless and pure in the king’s eyes’.
326 And they took Tamar and put her in the hands of the minister of the prison.
327 And they wrote books to the king in Jerusalem, by the hands of the posts, that Tamar, the king’s daughter, had killed Pirshaz, his friend, and that Tamar was sent to prison until the time when the king returns.
328 And the posts came to Jerusalem and King Solomon’s guards found them. And asked them: ‘Where are you from?’
329 And they said: ‘We come from Gesure to bring books to our master the king’.
330 And the guards took them and brought them to King Solomon.
331 And King Solomon said: ‘You came here to spy out the land. And now, give me your king’s letters to see if a sin is on you, or not’.
332 And King Solomon took the books and gave them to the sons of Shisha, the king’s scribes, to read.
333 And they read them and it was found written that Tamar had killed Pirshaz and that she was in prison.
334 And King Solomon called Ahishar, who was the head of the household, and said: ‘Put these uncircumcised men in jail, and bring the king of Geshur to me’.
335 And he did according to what he had ben commanded. And the king of Geshur came before King Solomon and he bowed his head toward the earth.
336 And King Solomon said: ‘Why have you cheated me, lying, while Tamar my sister is with you, and you said that you had never seen her, all your life?’
337 As the Lord liveth, who hath redeemed David my father, out of all evil, this very day you shall die!’
338 And King Solomon spoke to Benaiahu the son of Jehojada, saying to him” ‘Go, and fall upon the king of Geshur and his posts’. And he fell upon them, and they died, for they had lied to King Solomon.
339 And they buried them in a cave before the fishermen’s gate.
340 Therefore the name of the cave before the fishermen’s gate is the cave of the uncircumcised [men] unto this day.
341 And Solomon send Benaiahu, the son of Jehojada, and ten thousand valiant men from Judea with him, and he said to them:
342 ‘Go to Geshur and take Tamar, my father’s daughter, with you and destroy the royal palace, but take heed to yourselves, of Tamar’s mother, and do her no harm, for she is your master’s wife’.
343 And they went and did what they had been commanded by King Solomon, and they brought Tamar before King Solomon.
344 And Tamar fell down on her face to the ground, before the king, and said: ‘Let my lord the king, my brother, live for ever’.
345 And King Solomon asked her: ‘Why did you run away to Geshur?’ and she answered and said: ‘For I was sitting desolate in the house of my brother Absalom, for my brother Ammon, and I said I shall go to my mother’s house so I shall not be disgraced in the eyes of the sons of the king my father’.
346 And King Solomon asked her: ‘And why did you kill Pirshaz?’
347 And she answered: ‘Thus and thus the uncircumcised did to me, and thus I did to him in reevenge’.
348 And King Solomon said: ‘Blessed be thou of the Lord, and blessed be thy discretion, for you were wise, you acted and were successful’.
349 And King Solomon said to the ears of all his servants, saying: ‘Can one find such a charming woman and a heroine?’ and he said: ‘God be gracious unto thee, my daughter.
350 And from this day on you shall not be called “my sister” but “my daughter”, for you were extremely wise’.
351 And King Solomon gave his daughter Tamar to the son of Abinadab to be his wife, and she found grace in the eyes of her lord, and he loved her very much.
352 He was an officer over all the region of Dor.
353 And King Solomon called Tamar his daughter: Taphath, for stacte, the first of incense, which was her name all the days of her life.
XIV
354 And it came to pass on the first day of the seventh month in the beginning of the year, in the four hundred and seventy eighth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the second year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, the Lord’s vision came unto me and I was on Gihon.
355 And I raised my eyes and, lo, the heavens were open like a book, and I saw the glory of the Lord sitting on a lofty and exceedingly high throne.
356 And this is the appearance of the throne: twelve stairs led up to the throne, six of gold and six of silver, and there was a square back to the throne, like a sapphire stone.
357 And at its right side were three stools and at its left side were four stools near the sitting place, ike seven [men] that see the king’s face, covered with gold and silver and precious stones.
358 And the appearance of the glory of the Lord is like the appearance of the rainbow, His covenant.
359 And the host of heaven standing before Him on His right hand and on His left, and Satan is standing by them and behind them.
360 And, lo, a man dressed in linen brought before the glory of the Lord three books that were written about every man.
361 And he read in the first one and it was found to have the just deeds of His people, and the Lord said: ‘These will live for ever’.
362 And Satan said: ‘Who are these guilty people?’ And the man dressed in linen cried to Satan like a ram’s horn saying: ‘Keep silent, for this day is holy to our master’.
363 And he read in the second book, and it was found to have inadvertent sins of His people, and the Lord said: ‘Put aside this book but save it, until one third of the month elapses, to see what they will do’.
364 And he read in the third book, and it was found to have malicious deeds of His people.
365 And the Lord said to Satan: ‘These are your share, take them to do with them as it seemeth good to thee’.
366 And Satan took those who acted maliciously and he went with them to a waste land to destroy them there.
376 And the man dressed in linen cried like a ram’s horn, saying:
368 ‘Happy is the people that know the joyful shout; that walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance’.
369 and I heard the voice of the host of heaven dancing and saying: ‘master of justice, the lord of hosts, the whole heaven and earth is full of His glory’.
370 And I was shocked by the vision since I did not know what the Lord had done to me.
371 Then flew unto me one of the cherubs and he put an olive leaf in my mouth, and said: ‘Lo, this hath touched thy mouth, and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin expiated.
372 And this law that you have seen is a statute for Israel, and the low to the God of Abraham, and peace unto Isaac your father.
373 And the Lord will bless thy people in the trial with peace for ever’.
374 And I said: ‘Amen. May the Lord our God do this to us for ever and ever’.
375 And the angel answered: ‘Amen and amen’.