C — Calendars, Liturgies and Prayers

Chapter 11

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These fragments from a collection of blessings were originally attached to the Scroll containing the Community Rule and the Messianic Rule. They have been skilfully pieced together by J. T. Milik, who dates them to around BCE. The Blessings were to be recited by the Master or Guardian, and were, as it seems, intended for the messianic age, and perhaps for the ceremony of the institution of the new Community. It is, however, possible that they were actually used during the course of some liturgy anticipating and symbolizing the coming of the messianic era. All the members of the Covenant are blessed first, followed by someone who seems to be the priestly head of the Community, the Messiah of Aaron. The next blessing is addressed to the sons of Zadok, the Priests, and finally the Prince of the Congregation, the Messiah of Israel, is blessed. The rest of the document is lost. For an additional fragment, see G. J. Brooke and J. M. Robinson, 'A Further Fragment of iQSb: The Schøyen Collection MS 1909', JJS, 120-33. The Blessing of the Faithful I Words of blessing. The Master shall bless them that fear God and do His will, that keep His commandments, and hold fast to His holy Covenant, and walk perfectly in all the ways of His truth, whom He has chosen for an eternal Covenant which shall endure for ever.

May the Lord bless you from the Abode of His holiness; may He open for you from heaven an eternal fountain which shall not fail!

May He favour you with every heavenly blessing; may He teach you the knowledge of the Holy Ones! May He unlock for you the everlasting fountain; may He not withhold the waters of life from them that thirst! The Blessing of the High Priest II..

III May the Lord lift His countenance towards you; may He delight in the sweet odour of your sacrifices! May He choose all them that sit in your priestly college; may He store up all your sacred offerings, and in the season of.. all your seed! May He lift His countenance towards all your congregation! May He place upon your head a diadem.. in everlasting glory; may He sanctify your seed in glory without end! May He grant you everlasting peace.. May He fight at the head of your Thousands until the generation of falsehood is ended.. to bend many peoples before you.. all the riches of the world.. For God has established all the foundations of.. may He lay the foundation of your peace for ever! The Blessing of the Priests Words of blessing. The Master shall bless the sons of Zadok the Priests, whom God has chosen to confirm His Covenant for [ever, and

to inquire] into all His precepts in the midst of His people, and to instruct them as He commanded; who have established His Covenant on truth and watched over all His laws with righteousness and walked according to the way of His choice. May the Lord bless you from His holy Abode; may He set you as a splendid jewel in the midst of the congregation of the saints! May He renew for you the Covenant of the everlasting priesthood; may He sanctify you for the House of Holiness! May He judge all the leaders by your works, and all the princes of the peoples by the words from out of your lips! May He give you as your portion the firstfruits of all delectable things; may He bless by your hand the counsel of all flesh!.. may everlasting blessings be the crown upon your head!.. For He has chosen you to.. and to number the saints and to bless your people.. the men of the Council of God by your hand, and not by the hand of a prince... May you be as an Angel of the Presence in the Abode of Holiness to the glory of the God of hosts.. May you attend upon the service in the Temple of the Kingdom and decree destiny in company with the Angels of the Presence, in common council with the Holy Ones for everlasting ages and time without end; for all His judgements are truth! May He make you holy among His people, and an eternal light to illumine the world with knowledge and to enlighten the face of the Congregation with wisdom! May He consecrate you to the Holy of Holies! For you are made holy for Him and you shall glorify His Name and His holiness.. V.. The Blessing of the Prince of the Congregation The Master shall bless the Prince of the Congregation.. and shall renew for him the Covenant of the Community that he may establish the kingdom of His people for ever, [that he may judge the poor with

righteousness and] dispense justice with of the land, and that he may walk perfectly before Him in all the ways of truth, and that he may establish His holy Covenant at the time of the affliction of those who seek God.

May the Lord raise you up to everlasting heights, and as a fortified tower upon a high wall! May you smite the peoples with the might of your hand and ravage the earth with your sceptre; may you bring death to the ungodly with the breath of your lips! May He shed upon you the spirit of counsel and everlasting might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of God; may righteousness be the girdle of your loins and may your reins be girdled with faithfulness! May He make your horns of iron and your hooves of bronze; may you toss like a young bull and trample the peoples like the mire of the streets! For God has established you as the sceptre. The rulers.. and all the kings of the nations shall serve you. He shall strengthen you with His holy Name and you shall be as a lion; and you shall not lie down until you have devoured the prey which naught shall deliver..