A — The Rules

Part 31

I know that Thou hast marked the spirit of the just, and therefore I have chosen to keep my hands clean in accordance with Thy will: the soul of Thy servant has loathed every work of iniquity. And I know that man is not righteous

except through Thee, and therefore I implore Thee by the spirit which Thou hast given me to perfect Thy favours to Thy servant for ever, purifying me by Thy Holy Spirit, and drawing me near to Thee by Thy grace according to the abundance of Thy mercies Grant me the place of Thy loving-kindness which Thou hast chosen for them that love Thee and keep Thy commandments, that they may stand in Thy presence for ever. Let no scourge come near him lest he stagger aside from the laws of Thy Covenant. I know, O Lord, that Thou art merciful and compassionate, long-suffering and rich in grace and truth, pardoning transgression and sin. Thou repentest of evil against them that love Thee and keep Thy commandments, that return to Thee with faith and wholeness of heart.. to serve Thee and to do that which is good in Thine eyes. Reject not the face of Thy servant Hymn Thou art long-suffering in Thy judgements and righteous in all Thy deeds.

By Thy wisdom all things exist from eternity, and before creating them Thou knewest their works for ever and ever. Nothing is done without Thee and nothing is known unless Thou desire it.

Thou hast created all the spirits and hast established a statute and law for all their works. Thou hast spread the heavens for Thy glory and hast appointed all their hosts according to Thy will; the mighty winds according to their laws before they became angels of holiness.. and eternal spirits in their dominions; the heavenly lights to their mysteries, the stars to their paths, the clouds to their tasks, the thunderbolts and lightnings to their duty, and the perfect treasuries to their purposes,. to their mysteries.

Thou hast created the earth by Thy power and the seas and deeps by Thy might. Thou hast fashioned all their inhabitants according to Thy wisdom, and hast appointed all that is in them according to Thy will.

And to the spirit of man which Thou hast formed in the world, Thou hast given dominion over the works of Thy hands for everlasting days and unending generations.. in their ages Thou hast allotted to them tasks during all their generations, and judgement in their appointed seasons according to the rule of the two spirits. For Thou hast established their ways for ever and ever,

and hast ordained from eternity their visitation for reward and chastisements; Thou hast allotted it to all their seed for eternal generations and everlasting years.. In the wisdom of Thy knowledge

Thou didst establish their destiny before ever they were. All things exist according to Thy will and without Thee nothing is done.

These things I know by the wisdom which comes from Thee, for Thou hast unstopped my ears to marvellous mysteries.

And yet I, a shape of clay kneaded in water, a ground of shame and a source of pollution, a melting-pot of wickedness and an edifice of sin, a straying and perverted spirit of no understanding, fearful of righteous judgements, what can I say that is not foreknown, and what can I utter that is not foretold? All things are graven before Thee on a written Reminder for everlasting ages, and for the numbered cycles of the eternal years in all their seasons; they are not hidden or absent from Thee.

What shall a man say concerning his sin?

And how shall he plead concerning his iniquities? And how shall he reply to righteous judgement? For Thine, O God of knowledge, are all righteous deeds and the counsel of truth; but to the sons of men is the work of iniquity and deeds of deceit.

It is Thou who hast created breath for the tongue and Thou knowest its words; Thou didst establish the fruit of the lips before ever they were. Thou dost set words to measure and the flow of breath from the lips to metre. Thou bringest forth sounds according to their mysteries, and the flow of breath from the lips according to its reckoning, that they may tell of Thy glory and recount Thy wonders in all Thy works of truth and in all Thy righteous judgements; and that Thy Name be praised by the mouth of all men, and that they may know Thee according to their understanding and bless Thee for ever.

By Thy mercies and by Thy great goodness, Thou hast strengthened the spirit of man in the face of the scourge, and hast purified the erring spirit of a multitude of sins, that it may declare Thy marvels

in the presence of all Thy creatures. I will declare to the assembly of the simple the judgements by which I was scourged, and to the sons of men, all Thy wonders by which Thou hast shown Thyself mighty in me in the presence of the sons of Adam.

Hear, O you wise men, and meditate on knowledge; O you fearful, be steadfast! Increase in prudence, O all you simple; O just men, put away iniquity! Hold fast to the Covenant, O all you perfect of way; O all you afflicted with misery, be patient and despise no righteous judgement!

but the foolish of heart shall not comprehend these things Upon my uncircumcised lips Thou hast laid a reply. Thou hast upheld my soul, strengthening my loins and restoring my power; my foot has stood in the realm of ungodliness. I have been a snare to those who rebel, but healing to those of them who repent, prudence to the simple, and steadfastness to the fearful of heart. To traitors Thou hast made of me a mockery and scorn, but a counsel of truth and understanding to the upright of way. I have been iniquity for the wicked, ill-repute on the lips of the fierce, the scoffers have gnashed their teeth. I have been a byword to traitors,

the assembly of the wicked has raged against me; they have roared like turbulent seas and their towering waves have spat out mud and slime. But to the elect of righteousness Thou hast made me a banner, and a discerning interpreter of wonderful mysteries, to try those who practise truth and to test those who love correction. To the interpreters of error I have been an opponent, but a man of peace to all those who see true things. To all those who seek smooth things I have been a spirit of zeal; like the sound of the roaring of many waters so have all the deceivers thundered against me; all their thoughts were devilish schemings.

They have cast towards the Pit the life of the man whose mouth Thou hast confirmed, and into whose heart Thou hast put teaching and understanding, that he might open a fountain of knowledge to all men of insight. They have exchanged them for lips of uncircumcision, and for the foreign tongue of a people without understanding, that they might come to ruin in their straying. Hymn I thank Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast placed my soul in the bundle of the living, and hast hedged me about against all the snares of the Pit.

Violent men have sought after my life

because I have clung to Thy Covenant. For they, an assembly of deceit, and a horde of Belial, know not that my stand is maintained by Thee, and that in Thy mercy Thou wilt save my soul since my steps proceed from Thee. From Thee it is that they assail my life, that Thou mayest be glorified by the judgement of the wicked, and manifest Thy might through me in the presence of the sons of men; for it is by Thy mercy that I stand.

And I said, Mighty men have pitched their camps against me, and have encompassed me with all their weapons of war. They have let fly arrows

against which there is no cure, and the flame of javelins is like a consuming fire among trees. The clamour of their shouting is like the bellowing of many waters, like a storm of destruction devouring a multitude of men; as their waves rear up, Naught and Vanity spout upward to the stars. But although my heart melted like water, my soul held fast to Thy Covenant, and the net which they spread for me has taken their own foot; they have themselves fallen into the snares which they laid for my life.

But my foot remains upon level ground; apart from their assembly I will bless Thy Name. Hymn I thank Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast fastened Thine eye upon me. Thou hast saved me from the zeal of lying interpreters, and from the congregation of those who seek smooth things. Thou hast redeemed the soul of the poor one whom they planned to destroy by spilling his blood because he served Thee.

Because they knew not that my steps were directed by Thee, they made me an object of shame and derision in the mouth of all the seekers of falsehood. But Thou, O my God, hast succoured the soul of the poor and the needy against one stronger than he; Thou hast redeemed my soul from the hand of the mighty. Thou hast not permitted their insults to dismay me so that I forsook Thy service for fear of the wickedness of the ungodly, or bartered my steadfast heart for folly Hymn They caused me to be like a ship on the deeps of the sea, and like a fortified city before the aggressor,

and like a woman in travail with her first-born child, upon whose belly pangs have come and grievous pains, filling with anguish her child-bearing crucible.

For the children have come to the throes of Death, and she labours in her pains who bears a man. For amid the throes of Death she shall bring forth a man-child, and amid the pains of Hell there shall spring from her child-bearing crucible a Marvellous Mighty Counsellor; and a man shall be delivered from out of the throes.

When he is conceived all wombs shall quicken, and the time of their delivery shall be in grievous pains; they shall be appalled who are with child. And when he is brought forth every pang shall come upon the child-bearing crucible.

And they, the conceivers of Vanity, shall be prey to terrible anguish; the wombs of the Pit shall be prey to all the works of horror.

The foundations of the wall shall rock like a ship upon the face of the waters; the heavens shall roar with a noise of roaring, and those who dwell in the dust, as well as those who sail the seas, shall be appalled by the roaring of the waters.

All their wise men shall be like sailors on the deeps, for all their wisdom shall be swallowed up in the midst of the howling seas. As the Abysses boil above the fountains of the waters, the towering waves and billows shall rage with the voice of their roaring; and as they rage, Hell and Abaddon shall open and all the flying arrows of the Pit shall send out their voice to the Abyss.

And the gates of Hell shall open on all the works of Vanity; and the doors of the Pit shall close on the conceivers of wickedness; and the everlasting bars shall be bolted on all the spirits of Naught. Hymn I thank Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast redeemed my soul from the Pit, and from the hell of Abaddon Thou hast raised me up to everlasting height.

I walk on limitless level ground, and I know there is hope for him whom Thou hast shaped from dust for the everlasting Council. Thou hast cleansed a perverse spirit of great sin that it may stand with the host of the Holy Ones, and that it may enter into community with the congregation of the Sons of Heaven.

Thou hast allotted to man an everlasting destiny amidst the spirits of knowledge, that he may praise Thy Name in a common rejoicing and recount Thy marvels before all Thy works.

And yet I, a creature of clay, what am I? Kneaded with water, what is my worth and my might? For I have stood in the realm of wickedness and my lot was with the damned; the soul of the poor one was carried away in the midst of great tribulation. Miseries of torment dogged my steps while all the snares of the Pit were opened and the lures of wickedness were set up and the nets of the damned on the waters; while all the arrows of the Pit flew out without cease, and, striking, left no hope; while the rope beat down in judgement and a destiny of wrath upon the abandoned and a venting of fury upon the cunning. It was a time of the wrath of all Belial and the bonds of death tightened without any escape.