The Life of Suran

1And it came to pass that Suran was a wise man and he did have a strong desire to believe that which he had been taught. Wherefore he did doubt concerning those manifestations of God. For he did not know whether it came from God or from his own mind. Nevertheless he did press forward in faith, having a hope that those things which brought forth goodness did come from God. Wherefore he did teach his family concerning those things which he had read. And he spoke unto them of the first father and mother of humanity. And he taught that because of their transgression they were cast out from before the presence of God. And it was for this reason that mankind doth reside in a fallen and carnal state. That there might be weakness and imperfection in the world. And Suran also taught them concerning He who would be sent to redeem mankind. That he would make an eternal sacrifice so that mankind could be freed from their wickedness and return once more into the presence of God. Wherefore he did also teach them concerning Enoch and his teachings and also the great city which he did build up. And he also taught his family of Noah and their preservation from the flood because of their righteousness in hearkening to the words of God. And he taught them of Shem, the great king, and also of his descendants through his son Arpaksad. Those who did journey through the land of large men even until they did escape into the west and came unto these islands. And He did also teach unto them concerning those who has escaped captivity who were descended of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, who is Israel, and Levi. Wherefore he taught them a history of those people who were led out of Jerusalem to preserve the lineage of Levi and that their ancestors were brought by the hand of the Lord to these islands. Now, he also taught them concerning those who had come before and had mixed their seed with the inhabitants of these islands. And these were the ancestors of Suran and his family. Suran did also speak unto them concerning the prophecies of he who should come to redeem mankind, even the great Messiah. For the great prophet Isaiah spoke saying, For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and like a root out of a dry ground: he had no form and he had no majesty when we shall see him, there is no attractiveness that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of others, a man of sorrows, and familiar with grief: and as it were one whom we hide our faces from, he was despised by us, and we did not value him. Surely he has borne our pain, and carried our sorrows: yet we did look upon him as stricken, punished of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was injured for our iniquities, the punishment done to complete us was upon him; and with his bruises we are healed. Like sheep we have all gone astray; we have turned each one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he is like unto a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is does not speak, so he opened not his mouth. He was taken away from prison and from judgment, and who shall think upon his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And they made his death with the wicked, and with the rich people his tomb, because he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet the Lord was willing to bruise him and he has caused him to suffer. When his soul shall be made an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days, and the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see light because of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. Through his knowledge shall his righteous servant make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. And the world, because of their wickedness, shall judge him to be nothing; wherefore they scourge him, and he endureth it; and they smite him, and he endureth it. Even they spit upon him, and he endureth it, and all this because of his loving kindness and his long suffering towards the children of men. And even the God of our fathers, who were led out of captivity from Egypt, and also were preserved in the wilderness through Him, even, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For he giveth himself, as a man, into the hands of evil men, to be lifted up, according to the words of an angel. Wherefore he shall be lifted up even upon a cross to be crucified and he shall be entombed in a sepulchre. And there shall be three days of darkness which shall overcome the land and these things shall be a sign of his death even unto us who are among the children of Israel. The Lord our God shall come unto all those who are of the house of Israel at that day. Even those people who do reside in a distant land, even Jerusalem, they shall be punished because they have crucified their God. And they have rejected the signs and wonders and power and glory which doth accompany the God of Israel. And because of their pride they shall be hated among many nations. But when they shall turn again unto Him and remember the Holy One of Israel, He shall fulfill those promises which were made unto them through their fathers. And all the earth shall see Him and they shall all be blessed. And this shall be a sign of Him; A virgin shall conceive and she shall bear a son and His name shall be Immanuel.