A — The Rules

Part 32

The torrents of Belial shall reach to all sides of the world. In all their channels a consuming fire shall destroy every tree, green and barren, on their banks; unto the end of their courses it shall scourge with flames of fire, and shall consume the foundations of the earth and the expanse of dry land. The bases of the mountains shall blaze

and the roots of the rocks shall turn to torrents of pitch; it shall devour as far as the great Abyss.

The torrents of Belial shall break into Abaddon, and the deeps of the Abyss shall groan amid the roar of heaving mud. The land shall cry out because of the calamity fallen upon the world, and all its deeps shall howl. And all those upon it shall rave and shall perish amid the great misfortune. For God shall sound His mighty voice, and His holy abode shall thunder with the truth of His glory. The heavenly hosts shall cry out and the world's foundations shall stagger and sway. The war of the heavenly warriors shall scourge the earth; and it shall not end before the appointed destruction which shall be for ever and without compare. Hymn I thank Thee, O Lord, for Thou art as a fortified wall to me, and as an iron bar against all destroyers Thou hast set my feet upon rock.. that I may walk in the way of eternity and in the paths which Thou hast chosen Hymn I thank Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast illumined my face by Thy Covenant,

I seek Thee, and sure as the dawn Thou appearest as perfect Light to me. Teachers of lies have smoothed Thy people with words, and false prophets have led them astray; they perish without understanding for their works are in folly. For I am despised by them and they have no esteem for me that Thou mayest manifest Thy might through me. They have banished me from my land like a bird from its nest; all my friends and brethren are driven far from me and hold me for a broken vessel.

And they, teachers of lies and seers of falsehood, have schemed against me a devilish scheme, to exchange the Law engraved on my heart by Thee for the smooth things to Thy people. And they withhold from the thirsty the drink of Knowledge, and assuage their thirst with vinegar, that they may gaze on their straying, on their folly concerning their feast-days, on their fall into their snares.

But Thou, O God, dost despise all Belial's designs; it is Thy purpose that shall be done and the design of Thy heart that shall be established for ever.

As for them, they dissemble, they plan devilish schemes. They seek Thee with a double heart and are not confirmed in Thy truth A root bearing poisoned and bitter fruit is in their designs;

they walk in stubbornness of heart and seek Thee among idols, and they set before themselves the stumbling-block of their sin.

They come to inquire of Thee from the mouth of lying prophets deceived by error who speak with strange lips to Thy people, and an alien tongue, that they may cunningly turn all their works to folly.

For they hearken not to Thy voice, nor do they give ear to Thy word; of the vision of knowledge they say, 'It is unsure', and of the way of Thy heart, 'It is not '. But Thou, O God, wilt reply to them, chastising them in Thy might because of their idols and because of the multitude of their sins, that they who have turned aside from Thy Covenant may be caught in their own designs. Thou wilt destroy in Judgement all men of lies, and there shall be no more seers of error; for in Thy works is no folly, no guile in the design of Thy heart. But those who please Thee shall stand before Thee for ever; those who walk in the way of Thy heart shall be established for evermore.

Clinging to Thee, I will stand. I will rise against those who despise me and my hand shall be turned against those who deride me;

for they have no esteem for me that Thou mayest manifest Thy might through me. Thou hast revealed Thyself to me in Thy power as perfect Light, and Thou hast not covered my face with shame. All those who are gathered in Thy Covenant inquire of me, and they hearken to me who walk in the way of Thy heart, who array themselves for Thee in the Council of the holy.

Thou wilt cause their law to endure for ever and truth to go forward unhindered, and Thou wilt not allow them to be led astray by the hand of the damned when they plot against them. Thou wilt put the fear of them into Thy people and a hammer to all the peoples of the lands, that at the Judgement they may cut off all those who transgress Thy word.

Through me Thou hast illumined the face of the Congregation and hast shown Thine infinite power. For Thou hast given me knowledge through Thy marvellous mysteries, and hast shown Thyself mighty within me in the midst of Thy marvellous Council. Thou hast done wonders before the Congregation for the sake of Thy glory, that they may make known Thy mighty deeds to all the living.

But what is flesh of this? What is a creature of clay for such great marvels to be done,

whereas he is in iniquity from the womb and in guilty unfaithfulness until his old age? Righteousness, I know, is not of man, nor is perfection of way of the son of man: to the Most High God belong all righteous deeds. The way of man is not established except by the spirit which God created for him to make perfect a way for the children of men, that all His creatures may know the might of His power, and the abundance of His mercies towards all the sons of His grace.

As for me, shaking and trembling seize me and all my bones are broken; my heart dissolves like wax before fire and my knees are like water pouring down a steep place. For I remember my sins and the unfaithfulness of my fathers. When the wicked rose against Thy Covenant and the damned against Thy word, I said in my sinfulness, 'I am forsaken by Thy Covenant.' But calling to mind the might of Thy hand and the greatness of Thy compassion, I rose and stood, and my spirit was established in face of the scourge.

I lean on Thy grace and on the multitude of Thy mercies, for Thou wilt pardon iniquity, and through Thy righteousness Thou wilt purify man of his sin. Not for his sake wilt Thou do it,

but for the sake of Thy glory. For Thou hast created the just and the wicked Hymn I thank Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast not abandoned me whilst I sojourned among a people burdened with sin.

Thou hast not judged me according to my guilt, nor hast Thou abandoned me because of the designs of my inclination; but Thou hast saved my life from the Pit. Thou hast brought Thy servant deliverance in the midst of lions destined for the guilty, and of lionesses which crush the bones of the mighty and drink the blood of the brave.

Thou hast caused me to dwell with the many fishers who spread a net upon the face of the waters, and with the hunters of the children of iniquity; Thou hast established me there for justice. Thou hast confirmed the counsel of truth in my heart and the waters of the Covenant for those who seek it. Thou hast closed up the mouth of the young lions whose teeth are like a sword, and whose great teeth are like a pointed spear, like the venom of dragons. All their design is for robbery and they have lain in wait; but they have not opened their mouth against me.

For Thou, O God, hast sheltered me from the children of men,

and hast hidden Thy Law within me against the time when Thou shouldst reveal Thy salvation to me. For Thou hast not forsaken me in my soul's distress, and Thou hast heard my cry in the bitterness of my soul; and when I groaned, Thou didst consider my sorrowful complaint. Thou hast preserved the soul of the poor one in the den of lions which sharpened their tongue like a sword. Thou hast closed up their teeth, O God, lest they rend the soul of the poor and needy. Thou hast made their tongue go back like a sword to its scabbard lest the soul of Thy servant be blotted out.

Thou hast dealt wondrously with the poor one to manifest Thy might within me in the presence of the sons of men.

Thou hast placed him in the melting-pot, like gold in the fire, and like silver refined in the melting-pot of the smelters, to be purified seven times. The wicked and fierce have stormed against me with their afflictions; they have pounded my soul all day. But Thou, O my God, hast changed the tempest to a breeze; Thou hast delivered the soul of the poor one like a bird from the net and like prey from the mouth of lions.

Hymn I thank Thee O Lord, for Thou hast not abandoned the fatherless or despised the poor. For Thy might is boundless and Thy glory beyond measure and wonderful Heroes minister to Thee; yet hast Thou done marvels among the humble in the mire underfoot, and among those eager for righteousness, causing all the well-loved poor to rise up together from the trampling.

But I have been iniquity to those who contend with me, dispute and quarrelling to my friends, wrath to the members of my Covenant and murmuring and protest to all my companions.

All who have eaten my bread have lifted their heel against me, and all those joined to my Council have mocked me with wicked lips. The members of my Covenant have rebelled and have murmured round about me; they have gone as talebearers

before the children of mischief concerning the mystery which Thou hast hidden in me. And to show Thy greatness through me, and because of their guilt, Thou hast hidden the fountain of understanding and the counsel of truth.

They consider but the mischief of their heart; with devilish schemings they unsheathe

a perfidious tongue from which ever springs the poison of dragons. And like which creep in the dust, so do they let fly their poisonous darts, viper's venom against which there is no charm; and this has brought incurable pain, a malignant scourge within the body of Thy servant, causing his spirit to faint and draining his strength so that he maintains no firm stand.

They have overtaken me in a narrow pass without escape and there is no rest for me in my trial. They sound my censure upon a harp and their murmuring and storming upon a zither. Anguish seizes me like the pangs of a woman in travail, and my heart is troubled within me. I am clothed in blackness

and my tongue cleaves to the roof of my mouth; for I fear the mischief of their heart and their inclination appears as bitterness before me. The light of my face is dimmed to darkness and my radiance is turned to decay.

For Thou, O God, didst widen my heart, but they straiten it with affliction and hedge me about with darkness. I eat the bread of wailing

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and drink unceasing tears; truly, my eyes are dimmed by grief, and my soul by daily bitterness.

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Groaning and sorrow encompass me and ignominy covers my face. My bread is turned into an adversary and my drink into an accuser; it has entered into my bones causing my spirit to stagger and my strength to fail. According to the mysteries of sin, they change the works of God by their transgression.

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Truly, I am bound with untearable ropes and with unbreakable chains. A thick wall fences me in, iron bars and gates of bronze; my prison is counted with the Abyss as being without any escape

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The torrents of Belial have encompassed my soul leaving me without deliverance Hymn Thou hast unstopped my ears to the correction of those who reprove with justice Thou hast saved me from the congregation of vanity and from the assembly of violence; Thou hast brought me into the Council of.. and hast purified me of sin. And I know there is hope for those who turn from transgression and for those who abandon sin and to walk without wickedness in the way of Thy heart. I am consoled for the roaring of the peoples, and for the tumult of kingdoms when they assemble;

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for in a little while, I know, Thou wilt raise up survivors among Thy people and a remnant within Thine inheritance. Thou wilt purify and cleanse them of their sin for all their deeds are in Thy truth. Thou wilt judge them in Thy great loving-kindness and in the multitude of Thy mercies and in the abundance of Thy pardon, teaching them according to Thy word; and Thou wilt establish them in Thy Council according to the uprightness of Thy truth.