A — The Rules

The Community Rule (1QS, 4Q255-64)

11QS I [The Master shall teach the sai]nts to live(?) {according to the Book} (4Q255, 257) of the Community [Rul]e, that they may seek God with a whole heart and soul, and do what is good and right before Him as He commanded by the hand of Moses and all His servants the Prophets; that they may love all that He has chosen and hate all that He has rejected; that they may abstain from all evil and hold fast to all good; that they may practise truth, righteousness, and justice upon earth and no longer stubbornly follow a sinful heart and lustful eyes, committing all manner of evil. He shall admit into the Covenant of Grace all those who have freely devoted themselves to the observance of God's precepts, that they may be joined to the counsel of God and may live perfectly before Him in accordance with all that has been revealed concerning their appointed times, and that they may love all the sons of light, each according to his lot in God's design, and hate all the sons of darkness, each according to his guilt in God's vengeance. All those who freely devote themselves to His truth shall bring all their knowledge, powers and possessions into the Community of God, that they may purify their knowledge in the truth of God's precepts and order their powers according to His ways of perfection and all their possessions according to His righteous counsel. They shall not depart from any command of God concerning their times; they shall be neither early nor late for any of their appointed times, they shall stray neither to the right nor to the left of any of His true precepts. All those who embrace the Community Rule shall enter into the Covenant before God to obey all His commandments so that they may not abandon Him during the dominion of Belial because of fear or terror or affliction. On entering the Covenant, the Priests and Levites shall bless the God of salvation and all His faithfulness, and all those entering the Covenant shall say after them, 'Amen, Amen!' Then the Priests shall recite the favours of God manifested in His mighty deeds and shall declare all His merciful grace to Israel, and the Levites shall recite the iniquities of the children of Israel, all their guilty rebellions and sins during the dominion of Belial. And after them, all

2those entering the Covenant shall confess and say: 'We have strayed! We have [disobeyed!] We and our fathers before us have sinned and acted wickedly in walking [counter to the precepts] of truth and righteousness. [And God has] judged us and our fathers also; II but He has bestowed His bountiful mercy on us from everlasting to everlasting.' And the Priests shall bless all the men of the lot of God who walk perfectly in all His ways, saying: 'May He bless you with all good and preserve you from all evil! May He lighten your heart with life- giving wisdom and grant you eternal knowledge! May He raise His merciful face towards you for everlasting bliss!' And the Levites shall curse all the men of the lot of Belial, saying: 'Be cursed because of all your guilty wickedness! May He deliver you up for torture at the hands of the vengeful Avengers! May He visit you with destruction by the hand of all the Wreakers of Revenge! Be cursed without mercy because of (4Q256) the darkness of your deeds! Be damned in the shadowy place of everlasting fire! May God not heed when you call on Him, nor pardon you by blotting out your sin! May He raise His angry face towards you for vengeance! May there be no "Peace" for you in the mouth of those who hold fast to the Fathers!' And after the blessing and the cursing, all those entering the Covenant shall say, 'Amen, Amen!' And the Priests and Levites shall continue, saying: 'Cursed be the man who enters this Covenant while walking among the idols of his heart, who sets up before himself his stumbling-block of sin so that he may backslide! Hearing the words of this Covenant, he blesses himself in his heart and says, "Peace be with me, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart" (Deut. xxix, 18-19), whereas his spirit, parched (for lack of truth) and watered (with lies), shall be destroyed without pardon. God's wrath and His zeal for His precepts shall consume him in everlasting destruction. All the curses of the Covenant shall cling to him and God will set him apart for evil. He shall be cut off from the midst of all the sons of light, and because he has turned aside from God on account of his idols and his stumbling-block of sin, his lot shall be among those who are cursed for ever.' And after them, all those entering the Covenant shall answer and say, 'Amen, Amen!' Thus shall they do, year by year, for as long as the dominion of Belial

3endures. The Priests shall enter first, ranked one after another according to the perfection of their spirit; then the Levites; and thirdly, all the people one after another in their Thousands, Hundreds, Fifties, and Tens, that every Israelite may know his place in the Community of God according to the everlasting design. No man shall move down from his place nor move up from his allotted position. For according to the holy design, they shall all of them be in a Community of truth and virtuous humility, of loving-kindness and good intent one towards the other, and (they shall all of them be) sons of the everlasting Company. No man [shall be in the] Community of His truth who refuses to enter [the Covenant of] God so that he may walk in the stubbornness of his heart, for III his soul detests the wise teaching of just laws. He shall not be counted among the upright for he has not persisted in the conversion of his life. His knowledge, powers, and possessions shall not enter the Council of the Community, for whoever ploughs the mud of wickedness returns defiled (?). He shall not be justified by that which his stubborn heart declares lawful, for seeking the ways of light he looks towards darkness. He shall not be reckoned among the perfect; he shall neither be purified by atonement, nor cleansed by purifying waters, nor sanctified by seas and rivers, nor washed clean with any ablution. Unclean, unclean shall he be. For as long as he despises the precepts of God he shall receive no instruction in the Community of His counsel. For it is through the spirit of true counsel concerning the ways of man that all his sins shall be expiated, that he may contemplate the light of life. He shall be cleansed from all his sins by the spirit of holiness uniting him to His truth, and his iniquity shall be expiated by the spirit of uprightness and humility. And when his flesh is sprinkled with purifying water and sanctified by cleansing water, it shall be made clean by the humble submission of his soul to all the precepts of God. Let him then order his steps {to walk} (4Q255) perfectly in all the ways commanded by God concerning the times appointed for him, straying neither to the right nor to the left and transgressing none of His words, and he shall be accepted by virtue of a pleasing atonement before God and it shall be to him a Covenant of the everlasting Community.

4The Master shall instruct all the sons of light and shall teach them the nature of all the children of men according to the kind of spirit which they possess, the signs identifying their works during their lifetime, their visitation for chastisement, and the time of their reward. From the God of Knowledge comes all that is and shall be. Before ever they existed He established their whole design, and when, as ordained for them, they come into being, it is in accord with His glorious design that they accomplish their task without change. The laws of all things are in His hand and He provides them with all their needs. He has created man to govern the world, and has appointed for him two spirits in which to walk until the time of His visitation: the spirits of truth and injustice. Those born of truth spring from a fountain of light, but those born of injustice spring from a source of darkness. All the children of righteousness are ruled by the Prince of Light and walk in the ways of light, but all the children of injustice are ruled by the Angel of Darkness and walk in the ways of darkness. The Angel of Darkness leads all the children of righteousness astray, and until his end, all their sin, iniquities, wickedness, and all their unlawful deeds are caused by his dominion in accordance with the mysteries of God. Every one of their chastisements, and every one of the seasons of their distress, shall be brought about by the rule of his persecution; for all his allotted spirits seek the overthrow of the sons of light. But the God of Israel and His Angel of Truth will succour all the sons of light. For it is He who created the spirits of Light and Darkness and founded every action upon them and established every deed [upon] their [ways]. And He loves the one IV everlastingly and delights in its works for ever; but the counsel of the other He loathes and for ever hates its ways. These are their ways in the world for the enlightenment of the heart of man, and so that all the paths of true righteousness may be made straight before him, and so that the fear of the laws of God may be instilled in his heart: a spirit of humility, patience, abundant charity, unending goodness, understanding, and intelligence; (a spirit of) mighty wisdom which trusts in all the deeds of God and leans on His great loving-kindness; a spirit of discernment in every purpose, of zeal

5for just laws, of holy intent with steadfastness of heart, of great charity towards all the sons of truth, of admirable purity which detests all unclean idols, of humble conduct sprung from an understanding of all things, and of faithful concealment of the mysteries of truth. These are the counsels of the spirit to the sons of truth in this world. And as for the visitation of all who walk in this spirit, it shall be healing, great peace in a long life, and fruitfulness, together with every everlasting blessing and eternal joy in life without end, a crown of glory and a garment of majesty in unending light. But the ways of the spirit of falsehood are these: greed, and slackness in the search for righteousness, wickedness and lies, haughtiness and pride, falseness and deceit, cruelty and abundant evil, ill-temper and much folly and brazen insolence, abominable deeds (committed) in a spirit of lust, and ways of lewdness in the service of uncleanness, a blaspheming tongue, blindness of eye and dullness of ear, stiffness of neck and heaviness of heart, so that man walks in all the ways of darkness and guile. And the visitation of all who walk in this spirit shall be a multitude of plagues by the hand of all the destroying angels, everlasting damnation by the avenging wrath of the fury of God, eternal torment and endless disgrace together with shameful extinction in the fire of the dark regions. The times of all their generations shall be spent in sorrowful mourning and in bitter misery and in calamities of darkness until they are destroyed without remnant or survivor. The nature of all the children of men is ruled by these (two spirits), and during their life all the hosts of men have a portion of their divisions and walk in (both) their ways. And the whole reward for their deeds shall be, for everlasting ages, according to whether each man's portion in their two divisions is great or small. For God has established the spirits in equal measure until the final age, and has set everlasting hatred between their divisions. Truth abhors the works of injustice, and injustice hates all the ways of truth. And their struggle is fierce in all their arguments for they do not walk together. But in the mysteries of His understanding, and in His glorious wisdom, God has ordained an end for injustice, and at the time of the visitation He will destroy it for ever. Then truth, which has wallowed in the ways of wickedness during

6the dominion of injustice until the appointed time of judgement, shall arise in the world for ever. God will then purify every deed of man with His truth; He will refine for Himself the human frame by rooting out all spirit of injustice from the bounds of his flesh. He will cleanse him of all wicked deeds with the spirit of holiness; like purifying waters He will shed upon him the spirit of truth (to cleanse him) of all abomination and injustice. And he shall be plunged into the spirit of purification, that he may instruct the upright in the knowledge of the Most High and teach the wisdom of the sons of heaven to the perfect of way. For God has chosen them for an everlasting Covenant and all the glory of Adam shall be theirs. There shall be no more lies and all the works of injustice shall be put to shame. Until now the spirits of truth and injustice struggle in the hearts of men and they walk in both wisdom and folly. According to his portion of truth so does a man hate injustice, and according to his inheritance in the realm of injustice so is he wicked and so hates truth. For God has established the two spirits in equal measure until the determined end, and until the Renewal, and He knows the reward of their deeds from all eternity. He has allotted them to the children of men that they may know good [and evil, and] that the destiny of all the living may be according to the spirit within [them at the time] of the visitation. V And this is the Rule for the men of the Community who have freely pledged themselves to be converted from all evil and to cling to all His commandments according to His will They shall separate from the congregation of the men of injustice and shall unite, with respect to the Law and possessions, under the authority of the sons of Zadok, the Priests who keep the Covenant, and of the multitude of the men of the Community who hold fast to the Covenant. Every decision concerning doctrine, property, and justice shall be determined by them. They shall practise truth and humility in common, and justice and uprightness and charity and modesty in all their ways. No man shall walk in the stubbornness of his heart so that he strays after his heart

7and eyes and evil inclination, but he shall circumcise in the Community the foreskin of evil inclination and of stiffness of neck that they may lay a foundation of truth for Israel, for the Community of the everlasting Covenant. They shall atone for all those in Aaron who have freely pledged themselves to holiness, and for those in Israel who have freely pledged themselves to the House of Truth, and for those who join them to live in community and to take part in the trial and judgement and condemnation of all those who transgress the precepts. On joining the Community, this shall be their code of behaviour with respect to all these precepts. Whoever approaches the Council of the Community shall enter the Covenant of God in the presence of all who have freely pledged themselves. He shall undertake by a binding oath to return with all his heart and soul to every commandment of the Law of Moses in accordance with all that has been revealed of it to the sons of Zadok, the Priests, Keepers of the Covenant and Seekers of His will, and to the multitude of the men of their Covenant who together have freely pledged themselves to His truth and to walking in the way of His delight. And he shall undertake by the Covenant to separate from all the men of injustice who walk in the way of wickedness. For they are not reckoned in His Covenant. They have neither inquired nor sought after Him concerning His laws that they might know the hidden things in which they have sinfully erred; and matters revealed they have treated with insolence. Therefore Wrath shall rise up to condemn, and Vengeance shall be executed by the curses of the Covenant, and great chastisements of eternal destruction shall be visited on them, leaving no remnant. They shall not enter the water to partake of the pure Meal of the men of holiness, for they shall not be cleansed unless they turn from their wickedness: for all who transgress His word are unclean. Likewise, no man shall consort with him in regard to his work or property lest he be burdened with the guilt of his sin. He shall indeed keep away from him in all things: as it is written, Keep away from all that is false (Exod. xxiii, 7). No member of the Community shall follow them in matters of doctrine and justice, or eat or drink anything of theirs, or take anything from them except for a price; as it is written, Keep away from the man in whose nostrils is

8breath, for wherein is he counted? (Isa. ii, 22). For all those not reckoned in His Covenant are to be set apart, together with all that is theirs. None of the men of holiness shall lean upon works of vanity: for they are all vanity who know not His Covenant, and He will blot from the world all them that despise His word. All their deeds are defilement before Him, and all their property unclean. But when a man enters the Covenant to walk according to all these precepts that he may be joined to the holy Congregation, they shall examine his spirit in community with respect to his understanding and practice of the Law, under the authority of the sons of Aaron who have freely pledged themselves in the Community to restore His Covenant and to heed all the precepts commanded by Him, and of the multitude of Israel who have freely pledged themselves in the Community to return to His Covenant. They shall inscribe them in order, one after another, according to their understanding and their deeds, that every one may obey his companion, the man of lesser rank obeying his superior. And they shall examine their spirit and deeds yearly, so that each man may be advanced in accordance with his understanding and perfection of way, or moved down in accordance with his distortions. They shall rebuke one another in truth, humility, and charity. Let no man address his companion with anger, or ill-temper, or obdu[racy, or with envy prompted by (4Q258)] the spirit of wickedness. Let him not hate him [because of his uncircumcised] heart, but let him rebuke him on the very same day lest VI he incur guilt because of him. And furthermore, let no man accuse his companion before the Congregation without having admonished him in the presence of witnesses. These are the ways in which all of them shall walk, each man with his companion, wherever they dwell. The man of lesser rank shall obey the greater in matters of work and money. They shall eat in common and bless in common and deliberate in common. Wherever there are ten men of the Council of the Community there shall not lack a Priest among them. And they shall all sit before him according to their rank and shall be asked their counsel in all things in that order. And when the table has been prepared for eating, and the new wine for drinking, the Priest shall be the first to stretch out his hand

9to bless the firstfruits of the bread and new wine. And where the ten are, there shall never lack a man among them who shall study the Law continually, day and night, concerning the right conduct of a man with his companion. And the Congregation shall watch in community for a third of every night of the year, to read the Book and to study the Law and to bless together. This is the Rule for an Assembly of the Congregation Each man shall sit in his place: the Priests shall sit first, and the elders second, and all the rest of the people according to their rank. And thus shall they be questioned concerning the Law, and concerning any counsel or matter coming before the Congregation, each man bringing his knowledge to the Council of the Community. No man shall interrupt a companion before his speech has ended, nor speak before a man of higher rank; each man shall speak in his turn. And in an Assembly of the Congregation no man shall speak without the consent of the Congregation, nor indeed of the Guardian of the Congregation. Should any man wish to speak to the Congregation, yet not be in a position to question the Council of the Community, let him rise to his feet and say: 'I have something to say to the Congregation.' If they command him to speak, he shall speak. Every man, born of Israel, who freely pledges himself to join the Council of the Community shall be examined by the Guardian at the head of the Congregation concerning his understanding and his deeds. If he is fitted to the discipline, he shall admit him into the Covenant that he may be converted to the truth and depart from all injustice; and he shall instruct him in all the rules of the Community. And later, when he comes to stand before the Congregation, they shall all deliberate his case, and according to the decision of the Council of the Congregation he shall either enter or depart. After he has entered the Council of the Community he shall not touch the pure Meal of the Congregation until one {full} (4Q256) year is completed, and until he has been examined concerning his spirit and deeds; nor shall he have any share of the property of the Congregation. Then when he has

10completed one year within the Community, the Congregation shall deliberate his case with regard to his understanding and observance of the Law. And if it be his destiny, according to the judgement of the Priests and the multitude of the men of their Covenant, to enter the company of the Community, his property and earnings shall be handed over to the Bursar of the Congregation who shall register it to his account and shall not spend it for the Congregation. He shall not touch the Drink of the Congregation until he has completed a second year among the men of the Community. But when the second year has passed, he shall be examined, and if it be his destiny, according to the judgement of the Congregation, to enter the Community, then he shall be inscribed among his brethren in the order of his rank for the Law, and for justice, and for the pure Meal; his property shall be merged and he shall offer his counsel and judgement to the Community. These are the Rules by which they shall judge at a Community (Court of) Inquiry according to the cases If one of them has lied deliberately in matters of property, he shall be excluded from the pure Meal of the Congregation for one year and shall do penance with respect to one quarter of his food. Whoever has answered his companion with obstinacy, or has addressed him impatiently, going so far as to take no account of the dignity of his fellow by disobeying the order of a brother inscribed before him, he has taken the law into his own hand; therefore he shall do penance for one year [and shall be excluded]. If any man has uttered the [Most] Venerable Name VII even though frivolously, or as a result of shock or for any other reason whatever, while reading the Book or blessing, he shall be dismissed and shall return to the Council of the Community no more. If he has spoken in anger against one of the Priests inscribed in the Book, he shall do penance for one year and shall be excluded for his soul's sake from the pure Meal of the Congregation. But if he has spoken unwittingly, he shall do penance for six months. Whoever has deliberately lied shall do penance for six months.

11Whoever has deliberately insulted his companion unjustly shall do penance for one year and shall be excluded. Whoever has deliberately deceived his companion by word or by deed shall do penance for six months. If he has failed to care for his companion, he shall do penance for three months. But if he has failed to care for the property of the Community, thereby causing its loss, he shall restore it in full. And if he be unable to restore it, he shall do penance for sixty days. Whoever has borne malice against his companion unjustly shall do penance for six months/one year; and likewise, whoever has taken revenge in any matter whatever. Whoever has spoken foolishly: three months. Whoever has interrupted his companion whilst speaking: ten days. Whoever has lain down to sleep during an Assembly of the Congregation : thirty days. And likewise, whoever has left, without reason, an Assembly of the Congregation as many as three times during one Assembly, shall do penance for ten days. But if he has departed whilst they were standing he shall do penance for thirty days. Whoever has gone naked before his companion, without having been obliged to do so, he shall do penance for six months. Whoever has spat in an Assembly of the Congregation shall do penance for thirty days. Whoever has been so poorly dressed that when drawing his hand from beneath his garment his nakedness has been seen, he shall do penance for thirty days. Whoever has guffawed foolishly shall do penance for thirty days. Whoever has drawn out his left hand to gesticulate with it shall do penance for ten days. Whoever has gone about slandering his companion shall be excluded from the pure Meal of the Congregation for one year and shall do penance. But whoever has slandered the Congregation shall be expelled from among them and shall return no more. Whoever has murmured against the authority of the Community shall be expelled and shall not return. But if he has murmured against his companion unjustly, he shall do penance for six months. Should a man return whose spirit has so trembled before the

12authority of the Community that he has betrayed the truth and walked in the stubbornness of his heart, he shall do penance for two years. During the first year he shall not touch the pure Meal of the Congregation, and during the second year he shall not touch the Drink of the Congregation and shall sit below all the men of the Community. Then when his two years are completed, the Congregation shall consider his case, and if he is admitted he shall be inscribed in his rank and may then question concerning the Law. If, after being in the Council of the Community for ten full years, the spirit of any man has failed, so that he has betrayed the Community and departed from the Congregation to walk in the stubbornness of his heart, he shall return no more to the Council of the Community. Moreover, if any member of the Community has shared with him his food or property which ... of the Congregation, his sentence shall be the same; he shall be ex[pelled].

13VIII In the Council of the Community there shall be twelve men and three Priests, perfectly versed in all that is revealed of the Law, whose works shall be truth, righteousness, justice, loving-kindness and humility. They shall preserve the faith in the Land with steadfastness and meekness and shall atone for sin by the practice of justice and by suffering the sorrows of affliction. They shall walk with all men according to the standard of truth and the rule of the time. When these are in Israel, the Council of the Community shall be established in truth. It shall be an Everlasting Plantation, a House of Holiness for Israel, an Assembly of Supreme Holiness for Aaron. They shall be witnesses to the truth at the Judgement, and shall be the elect of Goodwill who shall atone for the Land and pay to the wicked their reward. It shall be that tried wall, that precious corner-stone, whose foundations shall neither rock nor sway in their place (Isa. xxviii, 16). It shall be a Most Holy Dwelling for Aaron, with everlasting knowledge of the Covenant of justice, and shall offer up sweet fragrance. It shall be a House of Perfection and Truth in Israel that they may establish a Covenant according to the everlasting precepts. And they shall be an agreeable offering, atoning for the Land and determining the judgement of wickedness, and there shall be no more iniquity. When

14they have been confirmed for two years in perfection of way in the Foundation of the Community, they shall be set apart as holy within the Council of the men of the Community. And the Interpreter shall not conceal from them, out of fear of the spirit of apostasy, any of those things hidden from Israel which have been discovered by him. And when these become members of the Community in Israel according to all these rules, they shall separate from the habitation of unjust men and shall go into the wilderness to prepare there the way of Him; as it is written, Prepare in the wilderness the way of ... , make straight in the desert a path for our God (Isa. xl, 3). This (path) is the study of the Law which He commanded by the hand of Moses, that they may do according to all that has been revealed from age to age, and as the Prophets have revealed by His Holy Spirit. And no man among the members of the Covenant of the Community who deliberately, on any point whatever, turns aside from all that is commanded, shall touch the pure Meal of the men of holiness or know anything of their counsel until his deeds are purified from all injustice and he walks in perfection of way. And then, according to the judgement of the Congregation, he shall be admitted to the Council and shall be inscribed in his rank. This rule shall apply to whoever enters the Community. And these are the rules which the men of perfect holiness shall follow in their commerce with one another Every man who enters the Council of Holiness, (the Council of those) who walk in the way of perfection as commanded by God, and who deliberately or through negligence transgresses one word of the Law of Moses, on any point whatever, shall be expelled from the Council of the Community and shall return no more; no man of holiness shall be associated in his property or counsel in any matter at all. But if he has acted inadvertently, he shall be excluded from the pure Meal and the Council and they shall interpret the rule (as follows). For two years he shall take no part in judgement or ask for counsel; but if, during that time, his way becomes perfect, {then he shall return) (4Q258) to the

15(Court of) Inquiry and the Council, in accordance with the judgement of the Congregation, provided that he commit no further inadvertent sin during two full years. IX For one sin of inadvertence (alone) he shall do penance for two years. But as for him who has sinned deliberately, he shall never return; only the man who has sinned inadvertently shall be tried for two years, that his way and counsel may be made perfect according to the judgement of the Congregation. And afterwards, he shall be inscribed in his rank in the Community of Holiness. When these become members of the Community in Israel according to all these rules, they shall establish the spirit of holiness according to everlasting truth. They shall atone for guilty rebellion and for sins of unfaithfulness, that they may obtain loving-kindness for the Land without the flesh of holocausts and the fat of sacrifice. And prayer rightly offered shall be as an acceptable fragrance of righteousness, and perfection of way as a delectable free-will offering. At that time, the men of the Community shall set apart a House of Holiness in order that it may be united to the most holy things and a House of Community for Israel, for those who walk in perfection. The sons of Aaron alone shall command in matters of justice and property, and every rule concerning the men of the Community shall be determined according to their word. As for the property of the men of holiness who walk in perfection, it shall not be merged with that of the men of injustice who have not purified their life by separating themselves from iniquity and walking in the way of perfection. They shall depart from none of the counsels of the Law to walk in all the stubbornness of their hearts, but shall be ruled by the primitive precepts in which the men of the Community were first instructed until there shall come the Prophet and the Messiahs of Aaron and Israel. These are the precepts in which the Master shall walk in His commerce with all the living, according to the rule proper to every season and according to the worth of every man He shall do the will of God according to all that has been revealed from age to age.

16He shall measure out all knowledge discovered throughout the ages, together with the Precept of the age. He shall separate and weigh the sons of righteousness according to their spirit. He shall hold firmly to the elect of the time according to His will, as He has commanded. He shall judge every man according to his spirit. He shall admit him in accordance with the cleanness of his hands and advance him in accordance with his understanding. And he shall love and hate likewise. He shall not rebuke the men of the Pit nor dispute with them. He shall conceal the teaching of the Law from men of injustice, but shall impart true knowledge and righteous judgement to those who have chosen the Way. He shall guide them all in knowledge according to the spirit of each and according to the rule of the age, and shall thus instruct them in the mysteries of marvellous truth, so that in the midst of the men of the Community they may walk perfectly together in all that has been revealed to them. This is the time for the preparation of the way into the wilderness, and he shall teach them to do all that is required at that time and to separate from all those who have not turned aside from all injustice. These are the rules of conduct for the Master in those times with respect to His loving and hating Everlasting hatred in a spirit of secrecy for the men of perdition! He shall leave to them wealth and earnings like a slave to his lord and like a poor man to his master. He shall be a man zealous for the Precept whose time is for the Day of Revenge. He shall perform the will of God in all his deeds, and in all his dominion as He has commanded. He shall freely delight in all that befalls him and nothing shall please him save God's will. He shall delight in all the words of His mouth and shall desire nothing except His command. He shall watch always [for] the judgement of God, and shall bless his Maker [for all His goodness] and declare [His mercies]

17in all that befalls. He shall bless Him [with the offering] of the lips X at the times ordained by Him: at the beginning of the dominion of light, and at its end when it retires to its appointed place; at the beginning of the watches of darkness when He unlocks their storehouse and spreads them out, and also at their end when they retire before the light; when the heavenly lights shine out from the dwelling-place of Holiness, and also when they retire to the place of Glory; at the entry of the (monthly) seasons on the days of the new moon, and also at their end when they succeed to one another. Their renewal is a great day for the Holy of Holies, and a sign for the unlocking of everlasting mercies at the beginning of seasons in all times to come. At the beginning of the months of the (yearly) seasons and on the holy days appointed for remembrance, in their seasons I will bless Him with the offering of the lips according to the Precept engraved for ever: at the beginning of the years and at the end of their seasons when their appointed law is fulfilled, on the day decreed by Him that they should pass from one to the other– the season of early harvest to the summer time, the season of sowing to the season of grass, the seasons of years to their weeks (of years)– and at the beginning of their weeks for the season of Jubilee. All my life the engraved Precept shall be on my tongue as the fruit of praise and the portion of my lips.

18I will sing with knowledge and all my music shall be for the glory of God. (My) lyre (and) my harp shall sound for His holy order and I will tune the pipe of my lips

19to His right measure. With the coming of day and night I will enter the Covenant of God, and when evening and morning depart I will recite His decrees. I will place in them my bounds without return.

20I will declare His judgement concerning my sins, and my transgressions shall be before my eyes as an engraved Precept. I will say to God, 'My Righteousness' and 'Author of my Goodness' to the Most High, 'Fountain of Knowledge' and 'Source of Holiness', 'Summit of Glory' and 'Almighty Eternal Majesty'. I will choose that which He teaches me and will delight in His judgement of me.

21Before I move my hands and feet I will bless His Name. I will praise Him before I go out or enter, or sit or rise, and whilst I lie on the couch of my bed. I will bless Him with the offering of that which proceeds from my lips from the midst of the ranks of men, and before I lift my hands to eat of the pleasant fruits of the earth. I will bless Him for His exceeding wonderful deeds at the beginning of fear and dread and in the abode of distress and desolation. I will meditate on His power and will lean on His mercies all day long. I know that judgement of all the living is in His hand, and that all His deeds are truth. I will praise Him when distress is unleashed

22and will magnify Him also because of His salvation.

23I will pay to no man the reward of evil; I will pursue him with goodness. For judgement of all the living is with God and it is He who will render to man his reward. I will not envy in a spirit of wickedness, my soul shall not desire the riches of violence. I will not grapple with the men of perdition until the Day of Revenge, but my wrath shall not turn from the men of falsehood and I will not rejoice until judgement is made. I will bear no rancour against them that turn from transgression, but will have no pity on all who depart from the way. I will offer no comfort to the smitten until their way becomes perfect.

24I will not keep Belial within my heart, and in my mouth shall be heard no folly or sinful deceit, no cunning or lies shall be found on my lips. The fruit of holiness shall be on my tongue and no abominations shall be found upon it. I will open my mouth in songs of thanksgiving, and my tongue shall always proclaim the goodness of God and the sin of men until their transgression ends. I will cause vanities to cease from my lips, uncleanness and crookedness from the knowledge of my heart.

25I will impart/conceal knowledge with discretion

26and will prudently hedge it within a firm bound to preserve faith and strong judgement in accordance with the justice of God. I will distribute the Precept by the measuring-cord of the times, and ... righteousness and loving-kindness towards the oppressed, encouragement to the troubled heart XI and discernment to the erring spirit, teaching understanding to them that murmur that they may answer meekly before the haughty of spirit and humbly before men of injustice who point the finger and speak of iniquity and who are zealous for wealth.

27As for me, my justification is with God. In His hand are the perfection of my way and the uprightness of my heart. He will wipe out my transgression through His righteousness.

28For my light has sprung from the source of His knowledge; my eyes have beheld His marvellous deeds, and the light of my heart, the mystery to come. He that is everlasting is the support of my right hand; the way of my steps is over stout rock which nothing shall shake; for the rock of my steps is the truth of God and His might is the support of my right hand.

29From the source of His righteousness is my justification,

30and from His marvellous mysteries is the light in my heart. My eyes have gazed on that which is eternal, on wisdom concealed from men, on knowledge and wise design (hidden) from the sons of men; on a fountain of righteousness and on a storehouse of power, on a spring of glory (hidden) from the assembly of flesh. God has given them to His chosen ones as an everlasting possession, and has caused them to inherit the lot of the Holy Ones. He has joined their assembly to the Sons of Heaven to be a Council of the Community, a foundation of the Building of Holiness, and eternal Plantation throughout all ages to come.

31As for me, I belong to wicked mankind, to the company of unjust flesh. My iniquities, rebellions, and sins, together with the perversity of my heart, belong to the company of worms and to those who walk in darkness. For mankind has no way, and man is unable to establish his steps since justification is with God and perfection of way is out of His hand. All things come to pass by His knowledge; He establishes all things by His design and without Him nothing is done.

32As for me, if I stumble, the mercies of God shall be my eternal salvation. If I stagger because of the sin of flesh, my justification shall be by the righteousness of God which endures for ever. When my distress is unleashed He will deliver my soul from the Pit and will direct my steps to the way. He will draw me near by His grace, and by His mercy will He bring my justification. He will judge me in the righteousness of His truth and in the greatness of His goodness He will pardon all my sins. Through His righteousness he will cleanse me of the uncleanness of man and of the sins of the children of men, that I may confess to God His righteousness, and His majesty to the Most High.

33Blessed art Thou, my God, who openest the heart of Thy servant to knowledge! Establish all his deeds in righteousness, and as it pleases Thee to do for the elect of mankind, grant that the son of Thy handmaid may stand before Thee for ever.

34For without Thee no way is perfect, and without Thy will nothing is done. It is Thou who hast taught all knowledge and all things come to pass by Thy will. There is none beside Thee to dispute Thy counsel or to understand all Thy holy design, or to contemplate the depth of Thy mysteries and the power of Thy might.

35Who can endure Thy glory, and what is the son of man in the midst of Thy wonderful deeds? What shall one born of woman be accounted before Thee? Kneaded from the dust, his abode is the nourishment of worms. He is but a shape, but moulded clay, and inclines towards dust. What shall hand-moulded clay reply? What counsel shall it understand?

36Community Rule manuscripts from Cave 4 4QSd=4Q258 This'is the best preserved of the ten 4QS manuscripts. Seven columns of the text have survived, five of them containing full-length lines. Column 1, with a wide margin on the right, is almost certainly the beginning of the Scroll. It corresponds to 1QS v, 1. The last identifiable passage represents 1QS XI, 7. The word 'God' ('el) is written twice with palaeo-Hebrew letters (at 1QS IX, 25 and x, 9). Columns I and II of Sd (1QS v, I-VI, 7) provide a shorter and smoother version of the Rule than 1QS. The more fragmentary 4QSb (=4Q256) supports the present version on the essential points. The most significant peculiarities of 4QSd (=4Q258) are the almost complete absence of the 'full' spelling characteristic of the Qumran sectarian manuscripts, the different opening line and a repeated failure to mention 'the Priests, the Sons of Zadok'. For both its occurrences in 1QS, 4QSd (and 4QSb) read 'the Congregation' (ha-rabbim), an alternative reading likely to possess important historical implications. For the editio princeps, see P. S. Alexander and G. Vermes, DJD, XXVI, 83-128. See also G. Vermes, 'The Leadership of the Qumran Community: Sons of Zadok - Priests - Congregation', in the Martin Hengel Festschrift Geschichte-Tradition-Reflexion, ed. P. Schäfer (Tübingen, 1996), 375-84.

37I (=1QS v, I-20) Teaching for the Master concerning the men of the Law (or: the Master who is the superior of the men of the Law) who have freely pledged themselves to convert from all evil and hold fast to all that He has commanded. And they shall separate from the congregation of the men of injustice and shall unite with respect to doctrine and property, and they shall be under the authority of the

38Congregation concerning all matters of doctrine and property. They shall practise humility and righteousness and justice and loving- [kindness] and modesty in all their ways. And no man shall walk in the stubbornness of his heart so as to stray. He is rather to lay [a foundation] of truth for Israel for the Community, for all those who have freely pledged themselves to Holiness in Aaron and to a House of Truth in Israel and for those who jo[in th]em for a Community. Whoever enters the Council [of the Commu]nity shall undertake by binding (oath) to [return t]o the Law of Moses with all (his) heart and soul, to all that has been revealed from the L[aw]. [And whoever enters] the Council of the me[n] of the Communi[ty shall separate from all the men] of injustice... He shall not touch the purity of the men [of holine]ss and shall not eat with (them) [in community. And no] one of the men of the Community [shall follow] their decision in any [doctrine] and judgement. And ... of work. No one from the men of holiness shall eat ... [And] they shall not lean upon [work]s of vanity, for they are all vanity who [do not know His Covenant and all who despis]e His word He will blot them out from the world. All their deeds are defileme[nt] be[fore Him and al]l [their property unclean.] ... Gentiles(?) and they pronounce oaths and execrations and vows. [But when a man enters the Covenant according to all these precepts, that he may be joined to the h]oly [Congregation,] they [shall examine their spirit in community,] am[ong themselves] con[cerning their understanding] II (1QS v, 21-VI, 7) and their practice of the Law under the authority of the sons of Aaron who have freely pledged themselves to restore His Covenant and heed to all the precepts commanded by Him to be practised by the multitude of Israel who have freely pledged themselves to return in common. They shall be inscribed in the order, one after another, each according to his understanding and his deeds in the Law, that all may obey one another, the man of lesser rank the greater. And they shall examine their spirit and their deeds in the Law yearly so that each man may be advanced in accordance with [his] un[derstanding] or moved down in accordance with his aberrations. They shall rebuke one another (in) loving-kindness. Let no man address his companion with anger or ill-temper or wicked envy. Also let no man accuse his companion before the Congregation without

39having rebuked him before witnesses. These are the ways in which all of them shall walk, each man with his companion, wherever they dwell. [The man of lesser rank] shall ob[ey] the greater in matters of work and pro[perty. And they shall e]at [in common] and bless in common and delibera[te] in common. [And wherever there are ten] III (1QS VI, 7-10) men of [the Council of the Community, there shall not lack] a pri[est from a]mong them. [And] they [shall sit, each m]an according to his rank, [before him and shall be asked their counsel in all things in that order.] And when [the table has been prepared for eating or the n]ew wine [for drinking, the] priest shall [be first to stretch out his hand to bless the firstfruit of the bread] and of the wine. [And where the ten are, there shall never lack a man among them who shall study the Law day and night. And the Congregation shall w]atch [for one third of every night of the year, to read the Book] IV ... V (IS VII, 13) ... [and whoever draws] his hand from be[neath his garment] ... VI (1QS VIII, 6-21) ... [and] to pay to the wicked [their reward. It shall be a tried wall, that precious corner-stone whose foundations shall not rock nor sway from] their [pl]ace; (it shall be) a most holy dwelling-place [for Aaron, with the knowledge of them all of a covenant of justice and of the offering of fragrance; (it shall be) a house of perfection and truth for Israe]l to establish a covenant according to the everlasting precepts. [They shall be an acceptance to atone for the land and to determine the judgement of wickedness with no injustice (any more). When these have been confirmed in the fou]ndation of the Community for two years, [in perfection of way, they shall be separated as holy within the council of the men] of the Communi[ty. And anything hidden from Is]rael but discovered by the man [who interprets, he shall not conceal it from them for fear of the spirit of apostasy.] And when these become (part of) the Community/in Israel, they shall separate fr[om the midst of the habitation] of the men [of injustice to go into the wilderness to prepare there the way of HIM (or: {the truth} (4Q259). This is the study of the La]w which He has commanded by the ha[nd of Moses, to pra]ctise all [that has been revealed from age to age, and as the prophets have revealed by His holy spirit. And no ma]n from the men of the covenant of the [Community who turns aside from any commandment deliberately shall touch the purity of the men of holiness, nor shall he

40know any of their counsel until his deeds are purified from all injustice so that he walks in perfection of way. And they shall admit him to the council by the decision of the Congregation and afterwards he shall be inscribed in his rank. And this rule (shall apply) to everyone who attaches himself] to the Community. [And these are the rules which the men of holiness shall follow, one regarding another.] Everyone who [enters the council of the Community] ... VII (1QS VII, 24-IX, 10, 15) ... they shall exclude him from purity and from council and from judgement for tw[o year]s and he shall return to study and to council if he has not committed again a sin by inadvertence for two full years. For one sin of inadvertence he shall do penance for two years, and for a deliberately committed sin he shall return no more. But he shall be tried for two [y]ears concerning the perfection of his way and for his counsel according to the decision of the Congregation and he shall be inscribed in his rank in the Community of holiness. [When] these [become part] of the Community in Israel according to these rules, they shall [es]tablish the spirit of holiness as eternal truth. They shall atone for guilty rebellion [and the sin of unfaithful]ness and shall gain (divine) acceptance for the lan[d without the flesh] of holocausts and the fat of sacrifices and offerings. And the cor[r]ect free-will gift of the lips shall be like a fragrance [of righteousness and the perfection] of the way like the free-will offerin[g of a]greeable [tribute]. And at that time they shall separate a house of Aaron for holiness for all [ ] of God [and a house of Community for Is]rael who walk in perfe[ction. Only the sons of Aa]ron [shall comm]a[nd in matters of ju]stice and property. And the property [of the men of holiness who wa]lk in perfection, let [their property] not be mer[ged with] the property [of the men of falsehood] who have not confir[med their way to separate from all] e[vil things] so as to walk in [the way of perfection. Let them not depart from any counsel of the Law] and they shall be judged by the [primitive precepts in which the men of the Community began to be instructed. He shall perform the judgement of every man according to his spirit and he shall admit him according to the cleanness of his hands] VIII (1QS IX, 15-x, 3) and shall advance him according to his understanding, and so shall be his love and his hatred. Furthermore he shall not rebuke a man and shall not dispute with the men of the pit. He shall conceal his counsel among

41the men of injustice, but he shall impart true knowledge and righteous judgement to those who have chosen the way, to each according to his spirit and according to the rule of the age, [guiding the]m with knowledge. And thus shall he instruct them in the mysteries of marvel and truth among the men of the Community that they may walk in perfection each man with [his fellow in all that has been] revealed to them. This is the time for the preparation of the way into the wilderness. He shall instruct them in all that is to be done in that time. [And he shall separate] from every man who has not turned away from all injustice. And these are the rules of conduct for the Master in [those] ti[mes] [with respect to his loving and] hating. Everlasting hatred for the men of the pit in a spirit of secrecy. He shall leave to them property and gain [and the earnings of toil like a slave to] his [lo]rd and the poor man to his master. Each shall be zealous for the precept and his time shall become a day [of revenge.] He shall [perform the will (of God) in all his actions and in al]l his dominion a[s He has commanded. And a]ll that befalls him, he shall enjoy as a free gift and without the will [of GOD] [he shall not enjoy (anything). He shall delight in all the words of His mouth and shall desire nothing that He has] n[ot commanded. And] he shall watch al[ways for the judgemen]t of GOD [ ] and he shall bless his Maker and in all that befalls he shall declare [ ] and with the offering of the lips he shall bless Him at [the times which He has decreed. At the beginning of the dominion of light a]nd the c[ompletion of its circuit when it ret]ires to [its] appointed dwelling at the beginning [of the watches of darkness. When He opens its storehouse and spreads it out and at the completion of its circuit when it retires bef]ore the light. When [the heavenly lights] shine out [from the a]bode [of His holiness together with their withdrawal to the dwelling of glory. At the entry of seasons according to the new moon as well as their completion of their circuit when one succeeds to the other]; IX (1QS x, 4-12) at their renewal there is a great day for the Holy of Holies and a sign for the opening of the everlasting mercies at the beginning of the seasons for all ages to come. At the beginning of the months for their seasons and on the holy days according to their rules for remembrance in [their] seasons, I will bless Him [with the offering of the l]ips according to the precept [en]graved for ever. At the beginning of

42the years and at the completion of the circ[uit of their seasons, when they ful]fil their determined precept on the day decreed for one to follow another, the seas[on of early harvest the summer, and the season of so]wing the season of grass, the seasons of the ye[ar]s thei[r] weeks [and at the beginning of] their weeks the seasons of jubilee. And during all my existence the [en]graved precept shall be on [my tongue as a fruit] of praise and a po[rtion] of my lips. I will sin[g] with knowledge and all my music is for the glory of GOD. [And I will] strike my lyre to the order [of His holiness and the pipe of my lips I will] tune to [His r]ight measure. [At the coming] of the day [and the n]ight I will enter the covenant [of GOD and at the departure of evening and morning I will recite His precepts. And in them will I re-establish [my boundaries without return. I will declare His judgement correct concerning] my [trans]gression [and] my [rebel]lion shall be before my eyes [as an engraved precept. And I say to GOD, 'My righteousness' and to the Most High, 'A]uthor of my goodness', 'Fountain of Knowledge' and 'Source of Holiness', 'Summit of Glory' and 'Almighty Eternal Majesty'. I will choose] X (1QS x, 12-18) that which He teaches [me and I will delight in His judgement of me. Before I move my hands] and feet I will bless [His name and before I lift my hand to grow fat from] the pleasant pro[duce of the world. At the beginning of fear and dread and in the abode of distress] a[nd desolation, I will confess (His) marvel and I will meditate on His might and on His mercies] I will lea[n all day long. I know that in His hand is the judgement of all the living and all His deeds are truth.] When [distress] sta[rts I will praise Him and I will exalt Him for His salvation. And I will not pay] an [evil] reward [to a man; I will pursue him with goodness. For the judgement of all the living is with GOD, and He] will repay [man his reward ... ] XI ... XII (1QS XI, 7) ... [and He has caused] them [to inher]it the l[ot of the Holy Ones] ... XIII (1QS XI, 14-15) ... [He will a]tone [for all] my sins. [Through His righteousness He will cleanse me of the uncleanness of man and from the sins of the child]ren of m[en that I may confess to God] His righ[teousness] ...

434QSe=4Q259 Three fragmentary columns of a leather scroll contain damaged sections of 1QS VII-IX. The text translated comes from columns II and III and represents an important doctrinal section of 1QS (VIII, 4-IX, II) in an abridged form. Not only are some of the interlinear additions to 1QS absent, suggesting their later editorial nature, but 4QSe (4Q259) jumps from 1QS VIII, 15 to IX, 12, thus omitting among other things the mention of the 'Prophet and the Messiahs of Aaron and Israel' (1QS IX, II). It would seem that the copyist of this manuscript substituted 4Q319 (the calendric document of Otot) for the text corresponding to 1QS X-XI. For the editio princeps, see P. S. Alexander and G. Vermes, DJD, XXVI, 129-52.

44II (1QS VII, 20-VIII, 10) ... And when [he has] comple[ted] [two years, the Congregation shall consider his case and he shall be inscribed in] his [ran]k and afterwards he may question [concerning the law. And anyone who has been in the Co]uncil of the Community until he has completed [ten years, and then his spirit turned back so that he has betrayed the Community and has departed from] the Congregation to walk [in the stubbornness of his heart, he shall return no more to the Council of the Community. And any of the m]en of the Community who [has shared with him his purity or his property], his sentence shall be [like his: he shall be expelled. In the Council of the Community there shall be twelve m]en [and] three priests, [perfect in all that has been revealed from the whole Law to practise] truth, righteousness and justice [loving-kindness and modesty towards one another. They shall preserve f]aith in the land with steadfastness and with humility [and a bro]ken [spirit.] And they shall atone for in[iquity by the practice of justice and the distress of te]sting. They shall walk with all men[ by the standard] of truth, by the rule [of the time. When these are in] Israel, the Council of the Community shall be established [to be an] ever[lasting plantation, a House of Holiness for Israel and an Assembly] of

45Supreme Holiness for Aaron. They shall be witnesses of the truth at the Judgement, and shall be the elect of good [will who atone for] the Lan[d and pay] to the wicked their reward. It shall be the tried wall, [that precious] cor[ner-stone. They shall] ne[ither rock, no]r sway from their place (Isa. xxviii, 16). It shall be a m[ost] Holy Dwelling for Aar[on f]or a Covenan[t of justice to offer up sweet] fragrance. It shall be a House of Perfection and Truth in [Israel that they may establish a Covenant according to the everlast]ing [precepts.] When they have been confirmed III (IQS VIII, 11-15; IX, 12 ...) [for two years in the perfection of way in the Foundation of the Community, they shall be set apart] as holy within the Council of the men [of the Community. And] the interpreter shall not con[c]eal [from them, out of fear of the spirit of apostasy, any of those things hidden from Israel which have been discover]ed by him. [And when] these shall become the Community, they shall separate fro[m the habit]ation [of unjust men and shall] go into the wil[derness to prepare there th]e way of the Truth; a[s] it is written, [In the wildernes]s pr[epare the way of... (?), make strai]ght in the desert a path for our God (Isa. xl, 3). This (path) is [the study of the Law which] He commanded by the hand of Moses. (The manuscript omits the section corresponding to 1QS VIII, 15b to ix, 11, and continues with ix, 12 on the same line.) These are the pre[cepts in which] the Mas[ter shall walk] in his commerce with all the living, according to the rule proper to every season and according to the wort[h of every man].

Entry into the Covenant (4Q275)

1Previously called 4QTohorot B a, this tiny fragment represents a document describing the entry into the Covenant, known from the Community Rule (1QS), and alludes to a festival in the third month, i.e. the Feast of Weeks of Pentecost, when according to one of the Cave 4 manuscripts of the Damascus Document (4Q266) the Qumran Covenant renewal took place. For the editio princeps, see P. S. Alexander and G. Vermes, DJD, XXVI, 200—16.

2[And the Guardian will come] and the elders with him until... and they shall enter by genealogy... And the Guardian shall [curse (the unrepentant), saying 'Be damned without] mercy. [Let him be cur]sed ...' And he will remove him] from his inheritance for ev[er] ... when he visits destruction ...

Four Classes of the Community (4Q279)

1Formerly known as 4QTohorot D a, this fragment is one of three small scraps which have partly preserved the division of the Community into four lots or classes, already known from CD XIV, 5-6, viz. Priests, Levites, Israelites and Proselytes. For the editio princeps, see P. S. Alexander and G. Vermes, DJD, XXVI, 217-23.

2... [The first] lot belongs [to the Pries]ts, the sons of Aaron [and the second lot to the Levites ranked in order] each according to his spirit. And the [third] lo[t will belong to the children of Israel in order each according to his spirit. And] the fourth lot will belong to the Prosely[tes] ...

The Damascus Document (CD, 4Q265-73, 5Q12, 6Q15)

1Extensive fragments of the Damascus Document have been recovered from three of the Qumran caves (4Q265-73, 5Q12=CD IX, 7-10, 6Q15=CD IV, 19-21, V, 13-14, v, I-VI, 2, VI, 20-VII, I plus a text unparalleled in CD), but two incomplete medieval copies of this document had been found already many years earlier, in 1896-7, amongst a mass of discarded manuscripts in a storeroom (genizah) of an old Cairo synagogue. Published in 1910 by S. Schechter (Fragments of a Zadokite Work, Cambridge), they were reprinted with a new Prolegomenon by J. A. Fitzmyer in 1970, re-edited by Chaim Rabin under the title The Zadokite Documents (Oxford, 1954) and in the light of the 4Q fragments by M. Broshi, The Damascus Document Reconsidered, Jerusalem, 1992. Cf. also J. M. Baumgarten et al. in J. H. Charlesworth et al., eds., The DSS II:Damascus Document..., 1995, 4-79. For the editio princeps, see J. M. Baumgarten, DJD, XVIII, 1996. Dating from the tenth and twelfth centuries respectively, the manuscripts found in Cairo - Manuscript A and Manuscript B - raise a certain number of textual problems in that they present two different versions of the original composition. I have settled the difficulty as satisfactorily as I can by following Manuscript A, to which the 4Q fragments correspond, and by inserting the Manuscript B variants in brackets or footnotes. At a certain point, as the reader will see, Manuscript A comes to an end and we then have to rely entirely on Manuscript B. Furthermore, two of the Cave 4 manuscripts (4Q266 and 268) show that page 1 of the Cairo document was preceded by another section of which both the beginning and the end have survived. Also 4Q266 and 270 indicate that in antiquity the text corresponding to CD IX, 1 was preceded by CD XVI. In the translation I have therefore

2rearranged the order of the pages and placed pages xv and XVI before page ix. The title 'Damascus Document' derives from the references in the Exhortation to the 'New Covenant' made 'in the land of Damascus'. The significance of this phrase is discussed in Chapter III together with the chronological data included in the manuscript. They suggest that the document was written in about 100 BCE and this hypothesis is indirectly supported by the absence of any mention in the historical passages of the Kittim (Romans) whose invasion of the Orient did not take place until after 70 BCE. The work is divided into an Exhortation and a list of Statutes. In the Exhortation, the preacher - probably a Guardian of the Community - addresses his 'sons' on the themes of the sect's teaching, many of which appear also in the Community Rule. His aim is to encourage the sectaries to remain faithful, and with this end in view he sets out to demonstrate from the history of Israel and the Community that fidelity is always rewarded and apostasy chastised. During the course of his argument, the author of the Damascus Document frequently interprets biblical passages in a most unexpected way. I have mentioned one of these commentaries on the marriage laws in Chapter IV (pp. 69-70), but there is another intricate exposition of Amos v, 26-7 on p. 135 which may not be easy to understand. In the Bible these verses convey a divine threat: the Israelites were to take themselves and their idols into exile: 'You shall take up Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star-god, your images which you made for yourselves, for I will take you into exile beyond Damascus.' But the Damascus Document transforms this threat into a promise of salvation; by changing certain words in the biblical text and omitting others its version reads: 'I will exile the tabernacle of your king and the bases of your statues from my tent to Damascus.' In this new text, the three key phrases are interpreted symbolically as follows: 'tabernacle' = 'Books of the Law'; 'king' = 'congregation'; 'bases of statues' = 'Books of the Prophets'. Thus: 'The Books of the Law are the tabernacle of the king; as God said, I will raise up the tabernacle of David which is fallen (Amos ix, 11). The king is the

3congregation; and the bases of the statues are the Books of the Prophets whose sayings Israel despised.' The omission of any reference to the 'star-god' is made good by introducing a very different 'Star', the messianic 'Interpreter of the Law' with his companion the 'Prince of the congregation'. 'The star is the Interpreter of the Law who shall come to Damascus; as it is written, A star shall come forth out of Jacob and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel (Num. xxiv, 17). The sceptre is the Prince of the whole congregation...' The second part of the Damascus Document, the Statutes, consists of a collection of laws which mostly reflect a sectarian reinterpretation of the biblical commandments relative to vows and oaths, tribunals, purification, the Sabbath and the distinction between ritual purity and impurity. They are followed by rules concerned with the institutions and organization of the Community. Some of the particular laws of the Damascus Rule appear also in the Temple Scroll (cf. p. 192). Whereas the Exhortation represents a literary genre adopted by both Jewish and Christian religious teachers (e.g. the Letter to the Hebrews), the methodical grouping of the Statutes prefigures that of the Mishnah, the oldest extant Jewish code. The Statutes as they appear in the Qumran fragments include the form of the ritual for the Feast of the Renewal of the Covenant, so it may be assumed that the entire Damascus Document was originally connected with that festival. 4Q266, as will be seen presently, specifies that it occurred in the third month, i.e. that it coincided with the Feast of Weeks, celebrated on the fifteenth day of the third month according to the sect's calendar. The translation of those Cave 4 fragments which are additional to CD will follow the presentation of the Cairo manuscripts. The Exhortation I Listen now74 all you who know righteousness, and consider the works of God; for He has a dispute with all flesh and will condemn all those

4who despise Him. For when they were unfaithful and forsook Him, He hid His face from Israel and His Sanctuary and delivered them up to the sword. But remembering the Covenant of the forefathers, He left a remnant to Israel and did not deliver it up to be destroyed. And in the age of wrath, three hundred and ninety years after He had given them into the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, He visited them, and He caused a plant root to spring from Israel and Aaron to inherit His Land and to prosper on the good things of His earth. And they perceived their iniquity and recognized that they were guilty men, yet for twenty years they were like blind men groping for the way. And God observed their deeds, that they sought Him with a whole heart, and He raised for them a Teacher of Righteousness to guide them in the way of His heart. And he made known to the latter generations that which God had done to the latter generation, the congregation of traitors, to those who departed from the way. This was the time of which it is written, Like a stubborn heifer thus was Israel stubborn (Hos. iv. 16), when the Scoffer arose who shed over Israel the waters of lies. He caused them to wander in a pathless wilderness, laying low the everlasting heights, abolishing the ways of righteousness and removing the boundary with which the forefathers had marked out their inheritance, that he might call down on them the curses of His Covenant and deliver them up to the avenging sword of the Covenant. For they sought smooth things and preferred illusions (Isa. xxx, 10) and they watched for breaks (Isa. xxx, 13) and chose the fair neck; and they justified the wicked and condemned the just, and they transgressed the Covenant and violated the Precept. They banded together against the life of the righteous (Ps. xciv, 21) and loathed all who walked in perfection; they pursued them with the sword and exulted in the strife of the people. And the anger of God was kindled against II their congregation so that He ravaged all their multitude; and their deeds were defilement before Him. Hear now, all you who enter the Covenant, and I will unstop your ears concerning the ways of the wicked.75 God loves knowledge. Wisdom and understanding He has set before Him, and prudence and knowledge serve Him. Patience and

5much forgiveness are with Him towards those who turn from transgression; but power, might, and great flaming wrath by the hand of all the Angels of Destruction towards those who depart from the way and abhor the Precept. They shall have no remnant or survivor. For from the beginning God chose them not; He knew their deeds before ever they were created and He hated their generations, and He hid His face from the Land until they were consumed. For He knew the years of their coming and the length and exact duration of their times for all ages to come and throughout eternity. He knew the happenings of their times throughout all the everlasting years. And in all of them He raised for Himself men called by name76 that a remnant might be left to the Land, and that the face of the earth might be filled with their seed. And He made known His Holy Spirit to them by the hand of His anointed ones, and He proclaimed the truth (to them). But those whom He hated He led astray. Hear now, my sons, and I will uncover your eyes that you may see and understand the works of God, that you may choose that which pleases Him and reject that which He hates, that you may walk perfectly in all His ways and not follow after thoughts of the guilty inclination and after eyes of lust. For through them, great men have gone astray and mighty heroes have stumbled from former times till now. Because they walked in the stubbornness of their heart the Heavenly Watchers fell; they were caught because they did not keep the commandments of God. And their sons also fell who were tall as cedar trees and whose bodies were like mountains. All flesh on dry land perished; they were as though they had never been because they did their own will and did not keep the commandment of their Maker so that His wrath was kindled against them. III Through it, the children of Noah went astray, together with their kin, and were cut off. Abraham did not walk in it, and he was accounted a friend of God because he kept the commandments of God and did not choose his own will. And he handed them down to Isaac and Jacob, who kept them, and were recorded as friends of God and party to the Covenant for ever. The children of Jacob strayed through them and were punished in accordance with their error. And their sons in Egypt walked in the stubbornness of their hearts, conspiring against the commandments of

6God and each of them doing that which seemed right in his own eyes. They ate blood, and He cut off their males in the wilderness. And at Kadesh He said to them, Go up and possess the land (Deut. ix, 23). But they chose their own will and did not heed the voice of their Maker, the commands of their Teacher, but murmured in their tents; and the anger of God was kindled against their congregation. Through it their sons perished, and through it their kings were cut off; through it their mighty heroes perished and through it their land was ravaged. Through it the first members of the Covenant sinned and were delivered up to the sword, because they forsook the Covenant of God and chose their own will and walked in the stubbornness of their hearts, each of them doing his own will. But with the remnant which held fast to the commandments of God He made His Covenant with Israel for ever, revealing to them the hidden things in which all Israel had gone astray. He unfolded before them His holy Sabbaths and his glorious feasts, the testimonies of His righteousness and the ways of His truth, and the desires of His will which a man must do in order to live. And they dug a well rich in water; and he who despises it shall not live. Yet they wallowed in the sin of man and in ways of uncleanness, and they said, 'This is our (way).' But God, in His wonderful mysteries, forgave them their sin and pardoned their wickedness; and He built them a sure house in Israel whose like has never existed from former times till now. Those who hold fast to it are destined to live for ever and all the glory of Adam shall be theirs. As God ordained for them by the hand of the Prophet Ezekiel, saying, The Priests, the Levites, and the sons IV of Zadok who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel strayed from me, they shall offer me fat and blood (Ezek. xliv, 15). The Priests are the converts of Israel who departed from the land of Judah, and (the Levites are) those who joined them. The sons of Zadok are the elect of Israel, the men called by name who shall stand at the end of days. Behold the exact list of their names according to their generations, and the time when they lived, and the number of their trials, and the years of their sojourn, and the exact list of their deeds... (They were the first men) of holiness whom God forgave, and who justified the righteous and condemned the wicked. And until the age is

7completed, according to the number of those years, all who enter after them shall do according to that interpretation of the Law in which the first (men) were instructed. According to the Covenant which God made with the forefathers, forgiving their sins, so shall He forgive their sins also. But when the age is completed, according to the number of those years, there shall be no more joining the house of Judah, but each man shall stand on his watch-tower: The wall is built, the boundary far removed (Mic. vii, II). During all those years Belial shall be unleashed against Israel, as He spoke by the hand of Isaiah, son of Amoz, saying, Terror and the pit and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the land (Isa. xxiv, 17). Interpreted, these are the three nets of Belial with which Levi son of Jacob said that he catches Israel by setting them up as three kinds of righteousness. The first is fornication, the second is riches, and the third is profanation of the Temple. Whoever escapes the first is caught in the second, and whoever saves himself from the second is caught in the third (Isa. xxiv, 18). The 'builders of the wall' (Ezek. xiii, 10) who have followed after 'Precept' - 'Precept' was a spouter of whom it is written, They shall surely spout (Mic. ii, 6) - shall be caught in fornication twice by taking a second wife while the first is alive, whereas the principle of creation is, Male and female created He them (Gen. i, 27)' V Also, those who entered the Ark went in two by two. And concerning the prince it is written, He shall not multiply wives to himself (Deut. xvii, 17); but David had not read the sealed book of the Law which was in the ark (of the Covenant), for it was not opened in Israel from the death of Eleazar and Joshua, and the elders who worshipped Ashtoreth. It was hidden and (was not) revealed until the coming of Zadok. And the deeds of David rose up, except for the murder of Uriah, and God left them to him. Moreover, they profane the Temple because they do not observe the distinction (between clean and unclean) in accordance with the Law, but lie with a woman who sees her bloody discharge. And each man marries the daughter of his brother or sister, whereas Moses said, You shall not approach your mother's sister; she is your mothers near kin (Lev. xviii, 13). But although the laws against incest

8are written for men, they also apply to women. When, therefore, a brother's daughter uncovers the nakedness of her father's brother, she is (also his) near kin. Furthermore, they defile their holy spirit and open their mouth with a blaspheming tongue against the laws of the Covenant of God saying, 'They are not sure.' They speak abominations concerning them; they are all kindlers of fire and lighters of brands (Isa. 1, 11), their webs are spiders' webs and their eggs are vipers' eggs (Isa. lix, 5). No man that approaches them shall be free from guilt; the more he does so, the guiltier shall he be, unless he is pressed. For (already) in ancient times God visited their deeds and His anger was kindled against their works; for it is a people of no discernment (Isa. xxvii, II), it is a nation void of counsel inasmuch as there is no discernment in them (Deut. xxxii, 28). For in ancient times, Moses and Aaron arose by the hand of the Prince of Lights and Belial in his cunning raised up Jannes and his brother when Israel was first delivered.77 And at the time of the desolation of the land there arose removers of the bound who led Israel astray. And the land was ravaged because they preached rebellion against the commandments of God given by the hand of Moses and VI of His holy anointed ones, and because they prophesied lies to turn Israel away from following God. But God remembered the Covenant with the forefathers, and he raised from Aaron men of discernment and from Israel men of wisdom, and He caused them to hear. And they dug the Well:78 the well which the princes dug, which the nobles of the people delved with the stave (Num. xxi, 18). The Well is the Law, and those who dug it were the converts of Israel who went out of the land of Judah to sojourn in the land of Damascus. God called them all princes because they sought Him, and their renown was disputed by no man. The Stave is the Interpreter of the Law of whom Isaiah said, He makes a tool for His work (Isa. liv, 16); and the nobles of the people are those who come to dig the Well with the staves with which the Stave ordained that they should walk in all the age of wickedness - and without them they shall find nothing - until he comes who shall teach righteousness at the end of days. None of those brought into the Covenant shall enter the Temple to

9light His altar in vain. They shall bar the door, forasmuch as God said, Who among you will bar its door? And, You shall not light my altar in vain (Mal. i, 10). They shall take care to act according to the exact interpretation of the Law during the age of wickedness. They shall separate from the sons of the Pit, and shall keep away from the unclean riches of wickedness acquired by vow or anathema or from the Temple treasure; they shall not rob the poor of His people, to make of widows their prey and of the fatherless their victim (Isa. x, 2). They shall distinguish between clean and unclean, and shall proclaim the difference between holy and profane. They shall keep the Sabbath day according to its exact interpretation, and the feasts and the Day of Fasting according to the finding of the members of the New Covenant in the land of Damascus. They shall set aside the holy things according to the exact teaching concerning them. They shall love each man his brother as himself; they shall succour the poor, the needy, and the stranger. A man shall seek his brother's well-being VII and shall not sin against his near kin. They shall keep from fornication according to the statute. They shall rebuke each man his brother according to the commandment and shall bear no rancour from one day to the next. They shall keep apart from every uncleanness according to the statutes relating to each one, and no man shall defile his holy spirit since God has set them apart. For all who walk in these (precepts) in perfect holiness, according to all the teaching of God, the Covenant of God shall be an assurance that they shall live for thousands of generations (MS. B: as it is written, Keeping the Covenant and grace with those who love me and keep my commandments, to a thousand generations, Deut. vii, 9). And if they live in camps according to the rule of the Land (MS. B: as it was from ancient times), marrying (MS. B: according to the custom of the Law) and begetting children, they shall walk according to the Law and according to the statute concerning binding vows, according to the rule of the Law which says, Between a man and his wife and between a father and his son (Num. xxx, 17). And all those who despise (MS. B: the commandments and the statutes) shall be rewarded with the retribution of the wicked when God shall visit the

10Land, when the saying shall come to pass which is written79 among the words of the Prophet Isaiah son of Amoz: He will bring upon you, and upon your people, and upon your father's house, days such as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah (Isa. vii, 17). When the two houses of Israel were divided, Ephraim departed from Judah. And all the apostates were given up to the sword, but those who held fast escaped to the land of the north; as God said, I will exile the tabernacle of your king and the bases of your statues from my tent to Damascus (Amos v, 26-7) The Books of the Law are the tabernacle of the king; as God said, I will raise up the tabernacle of David which is fallen (Amos ix, II). The king is the congregation; and the bases of the statues are the Books of the Prophets whose sayings Israel despised. The star is the Interpreter of the Law who shall come to Damascus; as it is written, A star shall come forth out ofJacob and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel (Num. xxiv, 17). The sceptre is the Prince of the whole congregation, and when he comes he shall smite all the children of Seth (Num. xxiv, 17). At the time of the former Visitation they were saved, whereas the apostates VIII were given up to the sword; and so shall it be for all the members of His Covenant who do not hold steadfastly to these (MS. B: to the curse of the precepts). They shall be visited for destruction by the hand of Belial. That shall be the day when God will visit. (MS. B: As He said,) The princes of Judah have become (MS. B: like those who remove the bound); wrath shall be poured upon them (Hos. v, 10). For they shall hope for healing but He will crush them. They are all of them rebels, for they80 have not turned from the way of traitors but have wallowed in the ways of whoredom and wicked wealth. They have taken revenge and borne malice, every man against his brother, and every man has hated his fellow, and every man has sinned against his near kin, and has approached for unchastity, and has acted arrogantly for the sake of riches and gain. And every man has done that which seemed right in his eyes and has chosen the stubbornness of his heart. They have not kept apart from the people (MS. B: and their sin) and have wilfully rebelled by walking in the ways of the wicked of whom God said, Their wine is the venom of serpents, the cruel poison (or

11head) of asps (Deut. xxxii, 33). The serpents are the kings of the peoples and their wine is their ways. And the head of asps is the chief of the kings of Greece who came to wreak vengeance upon them. But all these things the builders of the wall and those who daub it with plaster (Ezek. xiii, 10) have not understood because a follower of the wind, one who raised storms and rained down lies, had preached to them (Mic. ii, 11), against all of whose assembly the anger of God was kindled. And as for that which Moses said, You enter to possess these nations not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your hearts (Deut. ix, 5) but because God loved your fathers and kept the oath (Deut. vii, 8), thus shall it be with the converts of Israel who depart from the way of the people. Because God loved the first (men) who81 testified in His favour, so will He love those who come after them, for the Covenant of the fathers is theirs. But He hated the builders of the wall and His anger was kindled (MS. B: against them and against all those who followed them); and so shall it be for all who reject the commandments of God and abandon them for the stubbornness of their hearts. This is the word which Jeremiah spoke to Baruch son of Neriah, and which Elisha spoke to his servant Gehazi. None of the men who enter the New Covenant in the land of Damascus, (B I) and who again betray it and depart from the fountain of living waters, shall be reckoned with the Council of the people or inscribed in its Book from the day of the gathering in (B II) of the Teacher of the Community until the coming of the Messiah out of Aaron and Israel. And thus shall it be for every man who enters the congregation of men of perfect holiness but faints in performing the duties of the upright. He is a man who has melted in the furnace (Ezek. xxii, 22); when his deeds are revealed he shall be expelled from the congregation as though his lot had never fallen among the disciples of God. The men of knowledge shall rebuke him in accordance with his sin against the time when he shall stand again before the Assembly of the men of perfect holiness. But when his deeds are revealed, according to the interpretation of the Law in which the men of perfect holiness walk, let no man defer to him with regard to money or work,

12for all the Holy Ones of the Most High have cursed him. And thus shall it be for all among the first and the last who reject (the precepts), who set idols upon their hearts and walk in the stubbornness of their hearts; they shall have no share in the house of the Law. They shall be judged in the same manner as their companions were judged who deserted to the Scoffer. For they have spoken wrongly against the precepts of righteousness, and have despised the Covenant and the Pact - the New Covenant - which they made in the land of Damascus. Neither they nor their kin shall have any part in the house of the Law. From the day of the gathering in of the Teacher of the Community until the end of all the men of war who deserted to the Liar there shall pass about forty years (Deut. ii, 14). And during that age the wrath of God shall be kindled against Israel; as He said, There shall be no king, no prince, no judge, no man to rebuke with justice (Hos. iii, 4). But those who turn from the sin of Jacob, who keep the Covenant of God, shall then speak each man to his fellow, to justify each man his brother, that their step may take the way of God. And God will heed their words and will hear, and a Book of Reminder shall be written before Him of them that fear God and worship His Name, against the time when salvation and righteousness shall be revealed to them that fear God. And then shall you distinguish once more between the just and the wicked, between one that serves God and one that serves Him not (Mal. iii, 18); and He will show loving-kindness to thousands, to them that love Him and watch for Him, for a thousand generations (Exod. xx, 6). And every member of the House of Separation who went out of the Holy City and leaned on God at the time when Israel sinned and defiled the Temple, but returned again to the way of the people in small matters, shall be judged according to his spirit in the Council of Holiness. But when the glory of God is made manifest to Israel, all those members of the Covenant who have breached the bound of the Law shall be cut off from the midst of the camp, and with them all those who condemned Judah in the days of its trials. But all those who hold fast to these precepts, going and coming in accordance with the Law, who heed the voice of the Teacher and

13confess before God, (saying), 'Truly we have sinned, we and our fathers, by walking counter to the precepts of the Covenant, Thy judgements upon us are justice and truth'; who do not lift their hand against His holy precepts or His righteous statutes or His true testimonies; who have learned from the former judgements by which the members of the Community were judged; who have listened to the voice of the Teacher of Righteousness and have not despised the precepts of righteousness when they heard them; they shall rejoice and their hearts shall be strong, and they shall prevail over all the sons of the earth. God will forgive them and they shall see His salvation because they took refuge in His holy Name.82 The Statutes ... (He shall not) XV swear by (the Name), nor by Aleph and Lamed (Elohim), nor by Aleph and Daleth (Adonai), but a binding oath by the curses of the Covenant. He shall not mention the Law of Moses for... were he to swear and then break (his oath) he would profane the Name. But if he has sworn an oath by the curses of the Covenant before the judges and has transgressed it, then he is guilty and shall confess and make restitution; but he shall not be burdened with a capital sin. And all those who have entered the Covenant, granted to all Israel for ever, shall make their children who have reached the age of enrolment, swear with the oath of the Covenant. And thus shall it be during all the age of wickedness for every man who repents of his corrupted way. On the day that he speaks to the Guardian of the congregation, they shall enrol him with the oath of the Covenant which Moses made with Israel, the Covenant to return to the Law of Moses with a whole heart and soul, to whatever is found should be done at that time. No man shall make known the statutes to him until he has stood before the Guardian, lest when examining him the Guardian be deceived by him. But if he transgresses after swearing to return to the Law of Moses with a whole heart and soul, they (the members) shall be

14innocent should he transgress. And should he err in any matter that is revealed of the Law to the multitude of the camp, the Guardian shall {instruct} (4Q266, fr. 8 i, 5) him and shall issue directions concerning him: he should stu[dy] for a full year.83 And according to his (the Guardian's) knowledge, {no madman, or lunatic shall enter, no simpleton, or fool, no blind man, or maimed, or lame, or deaf man, and no minor, none of these shall enter into the Community, for the Angels of Holiness are [in their midst]} (4Q266, fr. 8 i, 6-9). (For God made) XVI a Covenant with you and all Israel; therefore a man shall bind himself by oath to return to the Law of Moses, for in it all things are strictly defined. As for the exact determination of their times to which Israel turns a blind eye, behold it is strictly defined in the Book of the Divisions of the Times into their Jubilees and Weeks. And on the day that a man swears to return to the Law of Moses, the Angel of Persecution shall cease to follow him provided that he fulfils his word: for this reason Abraham circumcised himself on the day that he knew. And concerning the saying, You shall keep your vow by fulfilling it (Deut. xxiii, 24), let no man, even at the price of death, annul any binding oath by which he has sworn to keep a commandment of the Law. But even at the price of death, a man shall fulfil no vow by which he has sworn to depart from the Law. Concerning the oath of a woman Inasmuch as He said, It is for her husband to cancel her oath (Num. xxx, 9), no husband shall cancel an oath without knowing whether it should be kept or not. Should it be such as to lead to transgression of the Covenant, he shall cancel it and shall not let it be kept. The rule for her father is likewise. Concerning the statute for free-will offerings

15No man shall vow to the altar anything unlawfully acquired. Also, no Priest shall take from Israel anything unlawfully acquired. And no man shall consecrate the food of his house to God, for it is as he said, Each hunts his brother with a net (or votive-offering: Mic. vii, 2). Let no man consecrate... And if he has consecrated to God some of his own field ... he who has made the vow shall be punished ... {[with] one sixth of his valuation money} (4Q266, fr. 8 ii, 2-3) ...

16IX84 Every vow by which a man vows another to destruction (cf. Lev. xxvii, 29) by the laws of the Gentiles shall himself be put to death. And concerning the saying, You shall not take vengeance on the children of your people, nor bear any rancour against them (Lev. xix, 18), if any member of the Covenant accuses his companion without first rebuking him before85 witnesses; if he denounces him in the heat of his anger or reports him to his elders to make him look contemptible, he is one that takes vengeance and bears rancour, although it is expressly written, He takes vengeance upon His adversaries and bears rancour against His enemies (Nah. i, 2). If he holds his peace towards him from one day to another86 and thereafter speaks of him in the heat of his anger, he testifies against himself concerning a capital matter because he has not fulfilled the commandment of God which tells him: You shall rebuke your companion and not be burdened with sin because of him (Lev. xix, 17). Concerning the oath with reference to that which He said, You shall not take the law into your own hands (I Sam. XXV, 26) Whoever causes another to swear in the field instead of before the Judges, or at their decree, takes the law into his own hands. When anything is lost, and it is not known who has stolen it from the property of the camp in which it was stolen, its owner shall pronounce a curse, and any man who, on hearing (it), knows but does not tell, shall himself be guilty. When anything is returned which is without an owner, whoever

17returns it shall confess to the Priest, and apart from the ram of the sin- offering, it shall be his. And likewise, everything which is found but has no owner shall go to the Priests, for the finder is ignorant of the rule concerning it. If no owners are discovered they shall keep it. Every sin which a man commits against the Law, and which his companion witnesses, he being alone, if it is a capital matter he shall report it to the Guardian, rebuking him in his presence, and the Guardian shall record it against him in case he should commit it again before one man and he should report it to the Guardian once more. Should he repeat it and be caught in the act before one man, his case shall be complete. And if there are two (witnesses), each testifying to a different matter, the man shall be excluded from the pure Meal provided that they are trustworthy and that each informs the Guardian on the day that they witnessed (the offence). In matters of property, they shall accept two trustworthy witnesses and shall exclude (the culprit) from the pure Meal on the word of one witness alone. No X Judge shall pass sentence of death on the testimony of a witness who has not yet attained the age of enrolment and who is not God-fearing. No man who has wilfully transgressed any commandment shall be declared a trustworthy witness against his companion until he is purified and able to return. And this is the Rule for the Judges of the Congregation Ten shall be elected from the congregation for a definite time, four from the tribe of Levi and Aaron, and six from Israel. (They shall be) learned in the Book of Meditation and in the constitutions of the Covenant, and aged between twenty-five and sixty years. No man over the age of sixty shall hold office as Judge of the Congregation, for 'because man sinned his days have been shortened, and in the heat of His anger against the inhabitants of the earth God ordained that their understanding should depart even before their days are completed' (Jubilees, xxiii, II).

18Concerning purification by water No man shall bathe in dirty water or in an amount too shallow to cover a man. He shall not purify himself with water contained in a87 vessel. And as for the water of every rock-pool too shallow to cover a man, if an unclean man touches it he renders its water as unclean as water contained in a vessel. Concerning the Sabbath to observe it according to its law No man shall work on the sixth day from the moment when the sun's orb is distant by its own fulness from the gate (wherein it sinks); for this is what He said, Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy (Deut. v, 12). No man shall speak any vain or idle word on the Sabbath day. He shall make no loan to his companion. He shall make no decision in matters of money and gain. He shall say nothing about work or labour to be done on the morrow. No man shall walk in the field88 to do business on the Sabbath. He shall not walk more than one thousand cubits beyond his town. No man shall eat on the Sabbath day except that which is already prepared. He shall eat nothing lying in the fields. He shall not drink except in the camp. XI If he is on a journey and goes down to bathe, he shall drink where he stands, but he shall not draw water into a vessel. He shall send out no stranger on his business on the Sabbath day. No man shall wear soiled garments, or garments brought to the store, unless they have been washed with water or rubbed with incense. No man shall willingly mingle (with others) on the Sabbath. No man shall walk more than two thousand cubits after a beast to pasture it outside his town. He shall not raise his hand to strike it with his fist. If it is stubborn he shall not take it out of his house. No man shall take anything out of the house or bring anything in. And if he is in a booth, let him neither take anything out nor bring anything in. He shall not open a sealed vessel on the Sabbath.

19No man shall carry perfumes on himself whilst going and coming on the Sabbath. He shall lift neither stone nor dust in his dwelling. No man minding a child shall carry it whilst going and coming on the Sabbath. No man shall chide89 his manservant or maidservant or labourer on the Sabbath.90 No man shall assist a beast to give birth on the Sabbath day. And if it should fall into a cistern or pit, he shall not lift it out on the Sabbath. No man shall spend the Sabbath in a place near to Gentiles on the Sabbath. No man shall profane the Sabbath for the sake of riches or gain on the Sabbath day. But should any man fall into water or (fire), let him not be pulled out with the aid of a ladder or rope or (some such) utensil. No man on the Sabbath shall offer anything on the altar except the Sabbath burnt-offering; for it is written thus: Except your Sabbath offerings (Lev. xxiii, 38). No man shall send to the altar any burnt-offering, or cereal offering, or incense, or wood, by the hand of one smitten with any uncleanness, permitting him thus to defile the altar. For it is written, The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination, but the prayer of the just is as an agreeable offering (Prov. xv, 8). No man entering the house of worship shall come unclean and in need of washing. And at the sounding of the trumpets for assembly, he shall go there before or after (the meeting), and shall not cause the whole service to stop, XII for it is a holy service. No man shall lie with a woman in the city of the Sanctuary, to defile the city of the Sanctuary with their uncleanness. Every man who preaches apostasy under the dominion of the spirits of Belial shall be judged according to the law relating to those possessed by a ghost or familiar spirit (Lev. xx, 27). But no man who strays so as to profane the Sabbath and the feasts shall be put to death; it shall fall to men to keep him in custody. And if he is healed of his error, they shall keep him in custody for seven years and he shall afterwards approach the Assembly. No man shall stretch out his hand to shed the blood of a Gentile for the sake of riches and gain. Nor shall he carry off anything of theirs,

20lest they blaspheme, unless so advised by the company of Israel. No man shall sell clean beasts or birds to the Gentiles lest they offer them in sacrifice. He shall refuse, with all his power, to sell them anything from his granary or wine-press, and he shall not sell them his manservant or maidservant inasmuch as they have been brought by him into the Covenant of Abraham. No man shall defile himself by eating any live creature or creeping thing, from the larvae of bees to all creatures which creep in water. They shall eat no fish unless split alive and their blood poured out. And as for locusts, according to their various kinds they shall plunge them alive into fire or water, for this is what their nature requires. All wood and stones and dust defiled by the impurity of a man shall be reckoned like men having defilement of oil on them; whoever touches them shall be defiled by their defilement. And every nail or peg in the wall of a house in which a dead man lies shall become unclean as any working tool becomes unclean (Lev. xi, 32). The Rule for the assembly of the towns of Israel shall be according to these precepts that they may distinguish between unclean and clean, and discriminate between the holy and the profane. And these are the precepts in which the Master shall walk in his commerce with all the living in accordance with the statute proper to every age. And in accordance with this statute shall the seed of Israel walk and they shall not be cursed. This is the Rule for the assembly of the camps Those who follow these statutes in the age of wickedness until the coming of the Messiah of Aaron XIII and Israel shall form groups of at least ten men, by Thousands, Hundreds, Fifties, and Tens (Exod. xviii, 25)-And where the ten are, there shall never be lacking a Priest learned in the Book of Meditation; they shall all be ruled by him. But should he not be experienced in these matters, whereas one of the Levites is experienced in them, then it shall be determined that all the members of the camp shall go and come according to the latter's word.

21But should there be a case of applying the law of leprosy to a man, then the Priest shall come and shall stand in the camp and the Guardian shall instruct him in the exact interpretation of the Law. Even if the Priest is a simpleton, it is he who shall lock up (the leper); for theirs is the judgement. This is the Rule for the Guardian of the camp He shall instruct the Congregation in the works of God. He shall cause them to consider His mighty deeds and shall recount all the happenings of eternity to them [according to] their [ex]planation (4Q267, fr. 9 iv, 2). He shall love them as a father loves his children, and shall carry them in all their distress like a shepherd his sheep. He shall loosen all the fetters which bind them that in his Congregation there may be none that are oppressed or broken. He shall examine every man entering his Congregation with regard to his deeds, understanding, strength, ability and possessions, and shall inscribe him in his place according to his rank in the lot of L[ight]. No member of the camp shall have authority to admit a man to the Congregation against the decision of the Guardian of the camp. No member of the Covenant of God shall give or receive anything from the sons of Dawn (shahar) [or: of the Pit (shahat)] except for payment. No man shall form any association for buying and selling without informing the Guardian of the camp and shall act on (his) advice and they shall not go {astray. Likewise he who marri[es]} (4Q266, fr. 9 ii, 4) a woma[n] ... advice. Likewise he who divorces (his wife). And he (the Guardian) shall instruct {their sons [and their daughters in a spiri]t} (4Q266, fr. 9 ii, 6-7) of humility and in loving-kindness and shall not keep {anger} (4Q266, fr. 9 ii, 8) towards them ... This is the Rule for the assembly of the camps during all [the age of wickedness, and whoever does not hold fast to] these (statutes) shall not be fit to dwell in the Land [when the Messiah of Aaron and Israel shall come at the end of days]. [And] these are the [precepts] in which the Master [shall walk in his

22commerce with all the living until God shall visit the earth. As He said, There shall come upon you, and upon your people, and upon your father's house, days] XIV such as have not come since Ephraim departed from Judah (Isa. vii, 17); but for whoever shall walk in these (precepts), the Covenant of God shall stand firm to save him from all the snares of the Pit, whereas the foolish shall be punished.91 The Rule for the assembly of all the camps They shall all be enrolled by name: first the Priests, second the Levites, third the Israelites, and fourth the proselytes. And they shall be inscribed by name, one after the other: the Priests first, the Levites second, the Israelites third, and the proselytes fourth. And thus shall they sit and thus be questioned on all matters. And the Priest who is appointed {to head} (4Q267, fr. 9 v, II) the Congregation shall be from thirty to sixty years old, learned in the Book of Meditation and in all the judgements of the Law so as to pronounce them correctly. The Guardian of all the camps shall be from thirty to fifty years old, one who has mastered all the secrets of men and the languages of all their clans. Whoever enters the Congregation shall do so according to his word, each in his rank. And whoever has anything to say92 with regard to any suit or judgement, let him say it to the Guardian. This is the Rule for the Congregation by which it shall provide for all its needs They shall place the earnings of at least two days out of every month into the hands of the Guardian and the Judges, and from it they shall give to the fatherless, and from it they shall succour the poor and the needy, the aged sick and the man who is stricken (with disease), the captive taken by a foreign people, the virgin with no near kin, and the ma[id for] whom no man cares ... And this is the exact statement of the assembly ...

23This is the exact statement of the statutes in which [they shall walk until the coming of the Messia]hof Aaron and Israel who will pardon their iniquity [Whoever] deliberately lies in a matter of property... and shall do penance for six days ... [Whoever slanders his companion or bears rancour] unjustly [shall do penance for one] year...

24Damascus Document manuscripts from Cave 4 Three Qumran caves have provided supplementary documentation to the text preserved in the Cairo Genizah. Of these the evidence furnished by Caves 5 (CD IX, 7-10) and 6 (CD IV, 19-21, v, 13-14, v, 18-VI, 2, VI, 20-VII, 1) is negligible, but the fragments discovered in Cave 4 (4Q266-273) are of the highest importance. Furthermore 4Q265 provides a kind of hybrid connecting the Damascus Document and the Community Rule. Palaeographically 4Q266-73 are dated from the mid-first century BCE to the beginning of the first century CE. The 4Q material represents (1) a prologue missing from CD (4Q266, fr. I—b; fr. 2 i, 1-6, combined with 4Q267, fr. 1 and 268, fr. 1) and substantial legal sections which follow the broken ending of the Statutes of CD. These laws relate to (2) the admission or dismissal of candidates (4Q266, fr. 5); to (3) criteria for disqualifying priests (4Q266, fr. 5; 267, fr. 5 ii; 273, frs. 2, 4 i); to (4) detailed rulings concerning the diagnosis and quarantining of persons suffering from skin disease (4Q266, fr. 6; 272, fr. 1); to (5) laws pertaining to gleanings (4Q266, fr. 6 iii-iv) and to the agricultural priestly dues (4Q270, fr. 3 ii-iii; 271, fr. 2; 269, fr. 8 i-ii). (6) A penal code partly overlapping with 1QS VII follows (4Q266, fr. 10; 270, fr. 7 i; 269, fr. II i- ii). The two main manuscripts (4Q266, fr. II and 270, fr. 7i-ii) end with the ritual for the dismissal of unworthy members used in the ceremony marking entry into and expulsion from the Covenant. This festival was celebrated in the third month and coincided with the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost. Finally (7) the hybrid S-D (4Q265), in which the Community Rule and the Damascus Document merge, allows a glimpse into the interrelationship between the two main constitutional documents of the Community. For the editio princeps, see J. M. Baumgarten, DJD, XVIII. For 4Q269, see H. Stegemann, DJD, XXXVI, 201-11.

25(1) THE OPENING OF THE DAMASCUS DOCUMENT ACCORDING TO 4QD (4Q266-8) Three Cave 4 manuscripts of the Damascus Document (4Q266, fr. 1a- b; fr. 2 i, 1-6, combined 4Q267 fr. 1 and 268 fr. 1) have preserved parts of a prologue unattested in the Cairo version. The prologue contains a title vaguely reminiscent of the opening of 4QSd. The context is eschatological and alludes to a revelation by God to those 'who search His commandments and walk in the perfection of way'. CD 11,1 follows on directly from the end of the prologue. 4Q266, fr. Ia-b [For the Master to instruct the s]ons of Light to keep away from the way[s of wickedness] ... until the completion of the appointed time for the visitation of [the spirit of injustice] ... God [will destro]y all her deeds, bringing destruction on ... the removers of boundaries and He will inflict destruction [on the assembly] of wickedness. [And now listen] to me and I will let you know the awesome des[igns of God] and His marvellous [mighty deeds]. I will recount to you [all that is concealed] from man [all the d]ays of his life... Fr. 2 (4Q267, fr. 1; 268, fr. 1) I flesh and creature... until it comes to them for they shall not be either early or late from their appointed times... He decreed an age of wrath for the people who did not know Him, and He established appointed times of goodwill for those who search His commandments and walk in the perfection of way. And He revealed hidden things to their eyes, and opened their ears so that they might hear deep (secrets) and

26understand all future things before they befall them. Listen now, all you who know righteousness... (=CD 1, 1). (2) INITIATION RULES (4Q266, fr. 5) This fragment contains echoes of the Community Rule's regulations regarding admission and dismissal of candidates and CD's identification of the sons of Zadok as the 'converts of Israel'.

27I ... ... [that they may bring near] each according to [his] spirit [and deeds] ... they shall depart by the decision of the Guardian (cf. 1QS VI, 16-17) ... [And these are the precepts] in which all the converts of Israel [shall wa]lk ... the sons of Zadok, the Priests (cf. CD IV, 2-3), behold the[y are the converts of Israel... [the interpretation of the] last Law. And these are the precepts for the Mas[ter] in which [he shall walk (1QS IX, 12)] in regard to all Israel, for [God] shall not save any of those who are not established] in His ways to walk perfec[tly] ... (3) RULES RELATING TO THE DISQUALIFICATION OF PRIESTS 4Q 266, fr. 5 ii (4Q267, fr. 5 ii; 273, frs. 2, 4 i) In this section of priestly legislation, the Community specifies (I) that only priests able to speak clearly and distinctly were allowed to read the Bible in public; (2) that priests who had been war prisoners were disqualified from Temple service; and (3) that priests who migrated to Gentile countries were deprived of their leading position and forbidden

28to partake in holy things.

29II Whoever speaks too fast (or: too quietly, lit. swift or light with his tongue) or with a staccato voice and does not split his words to make [his voice] heard, no one from among these shall read the Book of [the] La[w] that he may not misguide someone in a capital matter.... [Any man] from among the sons of Aaron who has been taken prisoner by the nations... to defile him with their uncleanness. He shall not come close to the [holy] worship... Let him not eat the most holy [things] ... Any son of Aaron who retreats to ser[ve the nations] ... to teach his people the constitution of the people and also to betray... [Any son] of Aaron whose name has been rejected from the Truth... [who has walked] in the stubbornness of his heart, eating from the holy ... from Israel, the Council of the sons of Aaron... who eats, he shall become guilty of the blood... in genealogy. And this is the rule for the dwelling [of the towns of Israel ... for the men] of holin[ess in] their [camps and] in their towns in a[ll] ... (4) DIAGNOSIS OF SKIN DISEASE (4Q 266,269,272,273) The rules relating to the diagnosis of a skin disease affecting the scalp and the face (Lev. xiii, 29-37) are missing from the Cairo manuscripts, but can be partially reconstructed from 4Q272 and 266 and also from 4Q269 and 273. The introductory formula prefixed to Lev. xiii, 33, viz., 'And as for that which is said', usually indicative of a repeat citation, suggests that a longer Leviticus quotation preceded it. The skin disease section is followed by laws relating to various sexual discharges causing uncleanness and impurity linked with childbirth. For the editio princeps, see J. M. Baumgarten, DJD, XVIII, 50-51, 186-7.

304Q 266, fr. 6 i (4Q272 1 273 ii, 269 7) I ... a discoloration or a scab or a bright spot ... And the scab resulting from a blow by wood [or st]one or whatever blow, when the spi[rit] enters [and sei]zes the artery, and the blood recedes up and down, and the artery... after the blood ... [And the priest shall observe the skin, the living and] the dead. If the dead (skin) [exceeds] the living (skin), he shall lock him up [until the blood re]turns to the artery until the flesh grows. And the priest shall observe him and shall make a comparison [on] the seventh [d]ay, [and if the spirlit of life is moving up and down, and the flesh grows, [the plague is healed, clean is] the scab. The priest shall not observe the skin on the flesh. 4Q266, fr. 6 I But if the discoloration or the scab is lower [than the skin... and the Pr]iest sees it as the appearance of living flesh, it is [a 'leprosy' (skin disease)] which has seized the living skin. And a similar rule concerning ... the Priest shall see on the seventh day. If some living flesh has become dead, the leprosy is malignant. And the law for the scab of the head or the bea[rd, when the Priest shall see] that the spirit has entered the head and the beard seizing the artery, and [the plague] spreads from under the hair and turns its appearance to fine yellow; for it is like a plant which has a worm under it and bites its root and makes its flower wither. And as for that which is said, And the Priest shall order that they shave his head, but shall not shave the scab (Lev. xiii, 33). This is in order that the Priest may count the dead and live hair. And he will see whether anything has been added from the live to the dead (hair) during the seven days. If there has, he is unclean. But if nothing has been added from the live (hair) to the dead, and the artery is filled with bl[ood] and the sp[i]rit of life goes up and down in it, this plague [is cured]. And this is the rule of the law of 'leprosy' for the sons of Aaron to set apart...

31And the law concerning a man with a flux. Any man with a [fl]ux issuing from [his] flesh, [o]r one that causes a [lew]d thought to arise or ... II the woma[n] ... [the man who ap]proaches [her] will have [the s]in of menstrual uncleanness on him. And if she sees (blood) a[gain] and this is not [during the uncleanness] of seven days, she shall not eat sacred (food) and shall not en[ter] the Sanctuary until the sun has set on the eighth day. vacat And a woman who [conceiv]es and bears a male child [shall be unclean] for seven [days like] in her menstrual d[ays. On the eighth day the flesh of his] foreskin [shall be circumcised. She shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. But if she bears a female child, she shall be unclean for a fortnight as in] her [menstr]uation. For [sixty-six days she shall continue in her blood of purifying (Lev. xii, 2-5). And she] shall not eat [sacred (food) and shall not enter the Sanctuary, for] it is a capital crime... [Let her give the chi]ld to a wet-nurse who is in [(the state of) pur]ity.... [And] if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take a turtledove or a young pigeon (Lev. xii, 8) and she shall substitute it for the [lamb].... (5) RULES CONCERNING GLEANINGS AND AGRICULTURAL PRIESTLY DUES (4Q 266,269,270,271) III ... [Concer]ning [gleanings (of grain) and the gleanings (of grapes) from the vine]yard. (A cluster is up to ten berries.) And all the gleanings (of grain) up to a seah (measure of capacity=c. 12 litres) per bet seah (area requiring one seah of seed for sowing) ... [And a field] which produces no seed, is not subject to (a levy of) terumah-offering or of fallen grapes or of clusters up to ten berries. And for the harvest of olives and the fruit of its produce, if it is complete, isolated olives are one in thirty. But if the field was ravaged or consumed by burning,

324Q 270, fr. 3 should the amount (remaining) be a seah per bet seah, it is to be tithed. If one person gleans one seah from it one day, the terumah will be one isaron (=30 per cent of a seah). [Concerning the two] loaves of the terumah. All the families (lit. houses) of Israel, those who eat the bread of the land, are to offer the terumah once a year (cf. Num. xv, 19-20; Lev. xxiii, 17). One (loaf) shall be one isaron. 4Q 266, fr. 6 IV ... All sacred offerings from the planting of vineyards and all fruit trees (producing) food shall belong to them (the priests), as is decreed for them, in the holy [lan]d and in the land of (their) sojourn. And afterwards they may sell of them to bu[y] ... a man may plant, in the fourth year he may n[ot ea]t (of it) for they sanctified it in [that] y[ear] ... 4Q 271, fr. 2 (4Q269, fr. 8 i-ii; 270, fr. 3 iii) ... he shall take off from (the grain of) the threshing-floor one tenth of a ho[mer (measure of volume, c. 220 litres), that is one eph]ah [or bath (22 litres), as is established]. The ephah and the bath are both the same measure. And from [the wheat o]ne sixth of [an ephah out of a homer and one tenth of a bath] for the fruit of trees. Let no one separate himself (from the norm of I out of 200, cf. Ezek. xlv, 15) by offering one lamb out of a hundred. Let [no] man eat [from the threshing-floor] and from the garden before [the prie]sts have stretched out their hand [to ble]ss first.... a house belonging to a man, he may sell and with... and he shall be innocent.... Let no man bring... to his pure food. Neither shall he bring close to his pure food any gold or silver or [copper], or tin or le[ad] from which the nations have made idols, except new (metal) coming straight from the furnace. Let no man bring any leather or garment or any vessel [which is used for] work and which

33has been defiled by the corpse of a man unless they were sprinkled according to the law [of purity with the water] for uncleanness in the age of wickedness (by) a man pure of all uncleanness who has allowed the sun to set (i.e. one who after bathing himself did not proceed until after sunset). No young man who has not yet reached the age to pass the mu[ster shall sprinkle] ... (6) THE PENAL CODE AND THE RENEWAL OF THE COVENANT RITUAL (4Q 266,270) CD XIV ends with scrappy relics of a penal code. The Cave 4 manuscripu Da and De include a list of breaches of the rule punished by exclusion and penance of varying lengths. They closely resemble the code contained in the Community Rule (1QS VII). The principal difference consists in the explicit mention of women (fornication with one's wife and murmuring against the Mothers) which once again renders the silence of Serekh concerning any matter pertaining to the female sex particularly eloquent. The penal code is followed by a Covenant ritual, which ends the Cave 4 version of the Damascus Document and contains the words spoken by the priestly head of the sect, following the expulsion of the unfaithful members of the congregation. The passage includes the reference to the 'third month' as the date of this festive assembly and presents the message of this writing as 'the last interpretation of the Law'. For the editio princeps, see J. M. Baumgarten, DVD, XVIII, 72-8, 162-70. 4Q266, fr. 10 (4Q270, fr. 7 i; 269, fr. 11 i-ii) ... II [He shall be excluded for] two [hundred] days and do penance

34for one hundred days. But if it was a capital matter and he bears (a grudge), [he] shall not return [again. And whoev]er has in[sulted] his companion without a reason [shall be exc]luded for one year and do pe[nan]ce for s[ix months] (cf. 1QS VII, 4). Whoever has spoken a foolish word, shall do penance for t[wen]ty [days and will be excluded] for three month[s (cf. 1QS VII, 9). And whoever in]terrupts the w[ords of his companion and lets himself go, will do penance for ten] days (1QS VII, 9-10). [And whoever lies do]wn [and] falls asleep at [the mee]t[ing of the Congregation ... shall be excluded] for thirty days [and] do penance for ten days. [And likewise, whoever has] left [without the consent of the Congregation and gratu]itously as many as three ti[mes in] one [session], he [shall do penance for ten] days. But if he has left the session [when they were standing, he shall do penance for thir]ty day[s]. And whoever has walked [naked] before [his] companion, whether he has walked in the house or in the field, he has walked n[aked before the peo]ple; he shall be excluded for six [months] ... (1QS VII, 10-12). And whoever has [d]rawn his hand from under [his] gar[ment and he was so poorly dressed that his nakedness was seen, he shall be separated for thir]ty [day]s and shall do penance for ten (1QS VII, 13-14). And whoever has gu[ffawed foolishly making his voi]c[e heard, shall be excluded for th]irty (days) and shall do penance for fif[teen days. And whoever has drawn out] his le[ft h]and [to gesticu]late with it, shall do penance [for ten days (1QS VII, 14-15). And who]ever has gone [slandering his com]panion, they shall exclude him from the purity for one year. 4Q 270, fr. 7 I [and shall do penance for six months. But whoever has slandered the Congregation shall be expelled] and shall not return ag[ain] (1QS VII, 15-16). [If he has murmured against his companion unjustly, he shall do penance for six months (1QS VII, 17-18). And] the m[a]n whose spirit has so trembled [before the authority of the Community that he has betrayed the truth and walked in the stubbornness of his heart, he shall be excluded for two years] and do penance for sixty [days] (1QS VII,

3518-19). [When his two years are completed, the Congregation shall consider [his ca]se, [and if he is admitted,] he shall be ins[cribed in his rank and may then question about the law (1QS VII, 20—21). And whoever] has despised the law of the Congregation shall leave and [shall not return again. And whoever has taken] his food (from another person) outside the rules, he shall return it to the man fr[om whom] he has taken it. vacat And whoever has approached his wife, not according to the rules, (thus) fornicating, he shall leave and will not return again. [If he has murmured] against the Fathers, he shall leave and shall not return [again (cf. 1QS VII, 17). But if he has murmured] against the Mothers, he shall do penance for ten days. For the Mothers have no rwqmh(distinction ?) within [the Congregation. vacat And these are the r]ules in [which they shall walk, all those who have been corrected. Whoev]er comes [to report some]one to the Priest [over]seeing 4Q 266, fr. II4Q270, fr. 7 i-ii) II the Congregation, he shall willingly accept His judgement, as He has ordered by the hand of Moses regarding the soul that sins by inadvertence that he shall bring his sin-offering and his guilt-offering. And concerning Israel it is written, I will go to the ends [of] heaven and will not smell the smell of your sweet odour (Lev. xxvi, 31). And in another passage it is written, To return to God with crying and fasting (Joel ii, 13). And in another passage it is written, Rend your heart and not your garment (ibid.) and it is written to return to God with fasting and weeping (Joel ii, 12). And whoever rejects these rules which follow all the precepts found in the Law of Moses, shall not be counted with all the sons of His truth, for his soul has detested the righteous corrections (cf. 1QS III, I). As a rebel, he shall be dismissed from the Congregation. The Priest [over]seeing the Congregation shall speak about him. Answering, [he shall] say: 'Blessed art Thou, "Lord" of the universe. Everything is in Thine hands and Thou art the maker of everything. Thou hast founded the [pe]oples according to their families and the languages of their nations. Thou hast made them err in

36confusion without a way. And Thou hast chosen our Fathers and hast given to their seed the precepts of Thy truth and Thine holy judgements by which a man, if he practises them, shall live. And Thou hast established boundaries for us and cursed those who transgress them. And we are the people of Thy redemption and the flock of Thy pasture. Thou hast cursed those who transgress it (the boundary?) but we maintain (it).' And the dismissed man shall leave, and whoever eats from what is his, and greets (literally, inquires about the welfare – shalom– of) the man who has been dismissed, and agrees with him, his case shall be recorded by the Guardian according to the decree, and his judgement shall be complete. And all [the inhabitants] of the camps shall assemble in the third month and shall curse him who turns aside, to the right [or to the left from the] Law. And this (the foregoing) is the interpretation of the laws which they shall observe in all the age [of visitation which will be visited on them during al]l the age of wrath and in their marches for all those who dwell in their camps and all their towns. Behold all this is according to the last interpretation of the Law. (7) A HYBRID COMMUNITY RULE – DAMASCUS DOCUMENT TEXT (4Q265) Twelve fragments of a manuscript, dating probably to the end of the first century BCE, have preserved remains of a writing dependent both on the Community Rule and on the Damascus Document but also including material which is in neither of these sources. Fr. I deals with the initiation into the Community and the penal code in terms recalling 1QS VI-VII, and fr. 7, lines 7-10 contains a description of the Council of the Community which is an abridged version of 1QS VIII, 1—9. It is worth noting that the 'twelve men and three priests' of 1QS VIII, I is replaced here by'fift[een men]'. Elements of the Sabbath laws from CD XI figure on columns I-II of fr. 7, while on one point the borrowing is

37probably from the Temple Scroll LII, 17-18. As for material alien to 1QS and CD, fr. 2 cites Isaiah liv, 1-2 in full and the last four lines of fr. 7 ii reproduce Lev. xii, 2, 4a, 5, 4b, but omitting xii, 3. This quotation is part of an account of the ages of the world arranged according to weeks, beginning with the garden of Eden. For the editio princeps, see J. M. Baumgarten, DJD, XXXV, 57-58. Fr. 1 ... as it is written [in the Book of] ... [as] it is written in the B[ook] of Isaiah the prophet: [Sing, o barren one, who did not bear; break forth in singing and] cry aloud you who have not been in travail! For the sons [of the desolate one] will be more [than the children of her who is married, says the Lord]. Enlar[ge] the place of [your] ten[t] ... (Isa. liv, 1-2) Its interpretation concerns... Fr. 3 ... Why does a ma[n] betray his brother ... [Let no] young man or woman eat [the sacrifice] of Passover... Fr. 4 I ... [and he shall be punished for t]en d[a]ys ... [and he shall be punished] thirty days ... [and he shall be punished during that time with the half of his food for fifte[en days] ... and he shall be punished for three months wi[th half of his food. The man who speaks before] his fellow inscribed before him, shall be excluded from purity for six months [and he shall be punished with half of his food.] vacat And the man who insu[Its his fellow... shall be punished] for thirty days. vacat And the man who know[ingly] deceives [shall be separated for six] months (IQS VII, 3-4) and shall be punished during that time with half of his food. [And the man who lies] knowingly in any matter shall be

38punished for thirty days vacat [And the man who lies concerning property] know[ingly], they shall exclude him for six months. [And the man who lies down] II ... [and falls asle]ep during a session of the Congregation shall be punished for thirt[y days. And if... to read from] the book, he falls asleep up to three times and if [he goes out, he shall be punished for ten days.] And the man who comes to j[oi]n the Council of the [Commu]nity [the Guardian of] the Congregation [shall examine him]. If it falls to him he shall instruct him for [one] year. [And after he shall stand] before the Congregation and they shall deliberate [over h]im (cf. 1QS VI, 15). If he is not found [fit for the discipline (cf. 1QS VI, 14), he shall depart (1QS VI, 16). If he is to enter,] the Guardian shall [teach him the interpretation] of the Law. He shall not [touch the pure Meal of the Congregation until] another full year (1QS VI, 16-17). [And on completing] his year (1QS VI, 18) [they shall hand over his property to] the Guardian of the Congregation ... [Wh]en he comes ... Fr. 6 ... on Sabbath day let no [man wear] soiled [garment]s (CD XI, 3). No man shall be dr[ess]ed in garments on which there is dust or ... on the Sabbath day. No [ma]n shall ta[ke] out of his tent a vessel and foo[d] on the Sabbath day. No man shall lift an animal which has fallen into water on the Sabbath day (CD xi, 13-14). But if a man falls into water on the Sabbath [day], he shall pass to him his garment to lift him out, but he shall not carry an instrument [to lift him out on] the Sabbath [day] (cf. CD XI, 16-17). And if the army... II ... [on] the Sabbath [day]. And let no ... Let [n]o man of the seed of Aaron sprinkle [purifying] w[aters (cf. 1QS III, 9; IV, 21) on the Sabbath day.] ... And with a beast he shall walk two thousand cubits [on the Sabbath day (CD xi, 5-6). Every beast with a defect in it shall be kept at a distance of(?)] thirty stadia [from the city of the Sanc]tuary (cf. IIQTemple LII, 17-18) ... When there shall be in the Council of the Community fift[een men, perfectly versed in all that is revealed of the Law (1QS VIII, I) and the Pr]ophets, the Council of the Community shall be established [in truth (1QS VIII, 5). They shall be witnesses to the truth at the judgement and elect] of

39Goodwill. They shall be an agreeable offering atoning on behalf of the Land (cf. 1QS VIII, 6, 9) for a[ll iniquity ... He shall terminate the ages of injustice (cf. 1QS IV, 18) ... Fr. 7 ... on the day of s[abbath ... on the da]y of sabbath... [N]o man from the seed of Aaron shall sprinkle wa[ter of purification ... They shall not bathe or wa]sh (their garments) [on] the great day and fast, on the day of [Atonement. He who goes outside his town to graze the] animals may go (to a distance of) two thousand cubits. [No man shall eat a blemished animal] within thirty stadia [from the sanctu]ary (cf. 1 1QT v, 16-18).... When there shall be in the Council of the Community fift[een men as God had said through His servants, the pr]ophets, the Council of the Community shall be established [in truth as an everlasting plantation, witnesses of truth and elect] of Goodwill, sweet fragrance to atone for the land... the ages of injustice will end by the judgement and the ... (cf. 1QS VIII, 1-10). vacat In the first week [Adam was created... until] he was not brought to the garden of Eden and a bone [from his bones was taken to become the woman] .... but she (Eve) had [no name (?)] until she was not brought to him (Adam) ... For holy is a garden of Eden, and every fresh shoot that is in it is holy [as it is written, If a woman conceives and bears a male child,] then she shall be unclean for seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean (Lev. xii, 2). Then [she shall continue for] thi[rty-three days in the blood] of her purifying (Lev. xii, 4). But if she bears a female child, [then she shall be unclean two weeks as in her menstruation. And she shall contin]ue in the blood of her purifying [for sixty-six days (Lev. xii, 5). She shall not touch ] any hallowed things, nor come into the Sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed](Lev. xii, 4).

The Messianic Rule (1QSa=1Q28a)

1The Messianic Rule was published in 1955 by D. Barthélemy in DJD,I (Oxford, 1955, pp. 107-18). Originally included in the same Scroll as the Community Rule, this short but complete work presents the translator with great difficulties owing to its bad state of preservation and to the carelessness of the scribe. Barthélemy named the work 'The Rule of the Congregation', but I have given it a new title for the following reasons: (1) it was intended for 'all the congregation in the last days'; (2) it is a Rule for a Community adapted to the requirements of the messianic war against the nations; (3) it refers to the presence of the Priest and the Messiah of Israel at the Council, and at the Meal described in column II. As in the Cave I version of the Community Rule and in the Damascus Document, but contrary to the version preserved in 4QSd (=4Q258) and 4QSb (=4Q256), 'the sons of Zadok, the Priests' form the chief authority in the sect. In the main, the precepts and the doctrinal concepts of the Messianic Rule foreshadow those of the War Rule. A mid-first-century BCE date may safely be proposed. Hundreds of tiny papyrus fragments of this text written in a cryptic script have been found in Cave 4. However, the pieces are so small that they cannot independently contribute to the textual criticism of 1QSa. See S. J. Pfann, 4Q249a-h, DJD, XXXVI, 515-74.

2I This is the Rule for all the congregation of Israel in the last days, when they shall join [the Community to wa]lk according to the law of

3the sons of Zadok the Priests and of the men of their Covenant who have turned aside [from the] way of the people, the men of His Council who keep His Covenant in the midst of iniquity, offering expiation [for the Land] When they come, they shall summon them all, the little children and the women also, and they shall read into their [ears a]ll the precepts of the Covenant and shall expound to them all their statutes that they may no longer stray in their [errors]. And this is the Rule for all the hosts of the congregation, for every man born in Israel From [his] youth they shall instruct him in the Book of Meditation and shall teach him, according to his age, the precepts of the Covenant. He [shall be edu]cated in their statutes for ten years... At the age of twenty years [he shall be] enrolled, that he may enter upon his allotted duties in the midst of his family (and) be joined to the holy congregation. He shall not [approach] a woman to know her by lying with her before he is fully twenty years old, when he shall know [good] and evil. And thereafter, he shall be accepted when he calls to witness the judgements of the Law, and shall be (allowed) to assist at the hearing of judgements. At the age of twenty-five years he may take his place among the foundations (i.e. the officials) of the holy congregation to work in the service of the congregation. At the age of thirty years he may approach to participate in lawsuits and judgements, and may take his place among the chiefs of the Thousands of Israel, the chiefs of the Hundreds, Fifties, and Tens, the Judges and the officers of their tribes, in all their families, [under the authority] of the sons of [Aar]on the Priests. And every head of family in the congregation who is chosen to hold office, [to go] and come before the congregation, shall strengthen his loins that he may perform his tasks among his brethren in accordance with his understanding and the perfection of his way. According to whether this is great or little, so shall one man be honoured more than another. When a man is advanced in years, he shall be given a duty in the [ser]vice of the congregation in proportion to his strength. No simpleton shall be chosen to hold office in the congregation of

4Israel with regard to lawsuits or judgement, nor carry any responsibility in the congregation. Nor shall he hold any office in the war destined to vanquish the nations; his family shall merely inscribe him in the army register and he shall do his service in task-work in proportion to his capacity. The sons of Levi shall hold office, each in his place, under the authority of the sons of Aaron. They shall cause all the congregation to go and come, each man in his rank, under the direction of the heads of family of the congregation - the leaders, Judges, and officers, according to the number of all their hosts - under the authority of the sons of Zadok the Priests, [and] (under the direction) [of all the] heads of family of the congregation. And when the whole assembly is summoned for judgement, or for a Council of the Community, or for war, they shall sanctify them for three days that every one of its members may be prepared.

5These are the men who shall be called to the Council of the Community ... All the wi[se men] of the congregation, the learned and the intelligent, men whose way is perfect and men of ability, together with the tribal chiefs and all the Judges and officers, and the chiefs of the Thousands, [Hundreds,] II Fifties, and Tens, and the Levites, each man in the [cla]ss of his duty; these are the men of renown, the members of the assembly summoned to the Council of the Community in Israel before the sons of Zadok the Priests. And no man smitten with any human uncleanness shall enter the assembly of God; no man smitten with any of them shall be confirmed in his office in the congregation. No man smitten in his flesh, or paralysed in his feet or hands, or lame, or blind, or deaf, or dumb, or smitten in his flesh with a visible blemish; no old and tottery man unable to stay still in the midst of the congregation; none of these shall come to hold office among the congregation of the men of renown, for the Angels of Holiness are [with] their [congregation]. Should [one] of them have something to say to the Council of Holiness, let [him] be questioned privately; but let him not enter among [the congregation] for he is smitten.

6[This shall be the ass]embly of the men of renown [called] to the meeting of the Council of the Community When God engenders93 (the Priest-) Messiah, he shall come with them [at] the head of the whole congregation of Israel with all [his brethren, the sons] of Aaron the Priests, [those called] to the assembly, the men of renown; and they shall sit [before him, each man] in the order of his dignity. And then [the Mess]iah of Israel shall [come], and the chiefs of the [clans of Israel] shall sit before him, [each] in the order of his dignity, according to [his place] in their camps and marches. And before them shall sit all the heads of [family of the congreg]ation, and the wise men of [the holy congregation,] each in the order of his dignity. And [when] they shall gather for the common [tab]le, to eat and [to drink] new wine, when the common table shall be set for eating and the new wine [poured] for drinking, let no man extend his hand over the firstfruits of bread and wine before the Priest; for [it is he] who shall bless the firstfruits of bread and wine, and shall be the first [to extend] his hand over the bread. Thereafter, the Messiah of Israel shall extend his hand over the bread, [and] all the congregation of the Community [shall utter a] blessing, [each man in the order] of his dignity. It is according to this statute that they shall proceed at every me[al at which] at least ten men are gathered together.

The War Scroll (IQM, 1Q33, 4Q491-7, 4Q471)

1The nineteen badly mutilated columns of this manuscript from Cave 1 first appeared in 1954 in a posthumous work by E. L. Sukenik, and were re-edited in 1955, with an English introduction, under the title The Dead Sea Scrolls of the Hebrew University (Jerusalem). A few detached scraps are represented by 1Q33 and copious fragments of six further manuscripts were discovered in Cave 4, and published in 1982 by M. Baillet in DJD, VII (4Q491-6 or 4QMa-f). 4Q497 represents tiny fragments of a related text, and 4Q471 or 4QMg a shorter version of 1QM (cf. E. and H. Eshel, DJD, XXXVI, 439-45). For a new edition of all the War Scroll material except 4Q471 see J. Duhaime in J. H. Charlesworth et al., eds., The DSS II, Damascus Document, War Scroll and Related Documents, 1995, 80-203. Some of the 4Q fragments basically reflect the Cave 1 text and help to complete its gaps: Ma, Mb, Md and Me have been used for this purpose, especially in columns I, XIV and XIX. On the other hand, Ma and Mc attest different recensions of the War Rule. Representative sections from these manuscripts will be translated separately. The contents of the War Rule are as follows: Proclamation of war against the Kittim (I) Reorganization of Temple worship (II) Programme of the forty years' war (II) The trumpets (III) The standards (III-IV) Disposition and weapons of the front formations (v) Movements of the attacking infantry (VI) Disposition and movements of the cavalry (VI) Age of the soldiers (VI-VII)

2The camp (VII) Duties of the Priests and Levites (exhortation, trumpet signals) (VII-IV) Addresses and prayers of the battle liturgy (X-XII) Prayer recited at the moment of victory (XIII) Thanksgiving ceremony (XIV) Battle against the Kittim (XV-XIX) Since the five last columns are more or less repetitious, there has been some doubt concerning the unity of the composition as a whole. Those who consider all nineteen columns to be the work of one writer find in column 1 an introduction, in columns II-XIV general rules, and in columns XV-XIX a 'prophetic' description of the final battle fought according to those rules. Other experts explain that columns XV-XIX are a Rule annexe dependent on the principal Rule (II-XIV). I am myself inclined to follow the theory first advanced by J. van der Ploeg (Le Rouleau de la guerre, Leiden, 1959, 11-22). The primitive work, represented in the present composition by columns 1 and XV- XIX, draws its inspiration from Daniel xi, 40-XII, 3, and describes the final battle against the Kittim. This account was later combined with the concept of a holy forty years' war against the entire Gentile world, and was extended by the addition of a long series of Rules concerned with the military and religious preparation and with the conduct of the fighting (columns II-XIV). This appears to me to offer a more satisfactory explanation of the literary complexities of the manuscript than do the previous hypotheses. The text of the manuscripts from Cave 4, especially Ma (4Q491) and Mc (4Q493)> indicate that diverse redactions of the War Rule coexisted in the Qumran library. The only certain pointer to the date of the compilation of the War Rule is that, since the author made use of the Book of Daniel written shortly after 164 BCE, his own work must have been started after that time. But a more accurate dating may be attempted by studying the military strategy and tactics described in the Scroll. Scholars are divided in their opinion as to whether the sons of light modelled them on Greek or Roman custom, or whether they merely drew their ideas from the Bible. Scripture doubtless exercised a definite influence on

3the author of this Rule, but there is nevertheless a great deal of material completely foreign to it, and he must have possessed, in addition, at least some acquaintance with contemporary warfare. With Y. Yadin and other archaeologists and historians, I believe that both the weapons and the tactics of the War Rule correspond to the art of war practised by the Roman legion rather than by the Greek phalanx. In particular, the square shield (scutum) of the foot-soldier, and the buckler of the horseman (parma or clipeus), the battle array of three lines (acies triplex), the 'gates of war' or openings between the units (intervalla), seem to be characteristically Roman. In addition, only the cavalry were to wear greaves - a custom introduced into the Roman army during the time of Julius Caesar in the middle of the first century BCE. This and similar details, as well as the general representation of the Kittim as masters of the world, lead one to conclude that the War Rule was written some time after the middle of the first century BCE, and since the reference to the 'king' of the Kittim points to the Imperial epoch (after 27 BCE), the date of its composition should probably be placed in the last decades of the first century BCE or at the beginning of the first century CE. This work should not be mistaken for a manual of military warfare pure and simple. It is a theological writing, and the war of which it treats symbolizes the eternal struggle between the spirits of Light and Darkness. The phases of its battle are fixed in advance, its plan established and its duration predetermined. The opposing forces are equally matched and only by the intervention of 'the mighty hand of God' is the balance between them to be disturbed when he deals an 'everlasting blow' to 'Belial and all the host of his kingdom'.

4I For the M[aster. The Rule of] War on the unleashing of the attack of the sons of light against the company of the sons of darkness, the army of Belial: against the band of Edom, Moab,and the sons ofAmmon, and [against the army of the sons of the East and] the Philistines, and against the bands of the Kittim of Assyriaand their allies the ungodly of the Covenant. The sons of Levi, Judah, and Benjamin, the exiles in the desert, shall battle against them in ... all their bands when the exiled sons of light

5return from the Desert of the Peoples to camp in the Desert of Jerusalem; and after the battle they shall go up from there (to Jerusalem?). [The king] of the Kittim [shall enter] into Egypt, and in his time he shall set out in great wrath to wage war against the kings of the north, that his fury may destroy and cut the horn of [Israel]. This shall be a time of salvation for the people of God, an age of dominion for all the members of His company, and of everlasting destruction for all the company of Belial. The confusion of the sons of Japheth shall be [great] and Assyria shall fall unsuccoured. The dominion of the Kittim shall come to an end and iniquity shall be vanquished, leaving no remnant; [for the sons] of darkness there shall be no escape. [The sons of righteous]ness shall shine over all the ends of the earth; they shall go on shining until all the seasons of darkness are consumed and, at the season appointed by God, His exalted greatness shall shine eternally to the peace, blessing, glory, joy, and long life of all the sons of light. On the day when the Kittim fall, there shall be battle and terrible carnage before the God of Israel, for that shall be the day appointed from ancient times for the battle of destruction of the sons of darkness. At that time, the assembly of gods and the hosts of men shall battle, causing great carnage; on the day of calamity, the sons of light shall battle with the company of darkness amid the shouts of a mighty multitude and the clamour of gods and men to (make manifest) the might of God. And it shall be a time of [great] tribulation for the people which God shall redeem; of all its afflictions none shall be as this, from its sudden beginning until its end in eternal redemption. On the day of their battle against the Kittim [they shall set out for] carnage. In three lots shall the sons of light brace themselves in battle to strike down iniquity, and in three lots shall Belial's host gird itself to thrust back the company [of God. And when the hearts of the detach]ments of foot-soldiers faint, then shall the might of God fortify [the hearts of the sons of light]. And with the seventh lot, the mighty hand of God shall bring down [the army of Belial, and all] the angels of his kingdom, and all the members [of his company in everlasting destruction] ... {... The priests, the Levites and the heads of [the tribes] ... the priests

6as well as the Levites and the divisions of} (4Q464) II the fifty-two heads of family of the congregation. They shall rank the chief Priests below the High Priest and his vicar. And the twelve chief Priests shall minister at the daily sacrifice before God, whereas the twenty-six leaders of the priestly divisions shall minister in their divisions. Below them, in perpetual ministry, shall be the chiefs of the Levites to the number of twelve, one for each tribe. The leaders of their divisions shall minister each in his place. Below them shall be the chiefs of the tribes together with the heads of family of the congregation. They shall attend daily at the gates of the Sanctuary, whereas the leaders of their divisions, with their numbered men, shall attend at their appointed times, on new moons and on Sabbaths and on all the days of the year, their age being fifty years and over. These are the men who shall attend at holocausts and sacrifices to prepare sweet-smelling incense for the good pleasure of God, to atone for all His congregation, and to satisfy themselves perpetually before Him at the table of glory. They shall arrange all these things during the season of the year of Release. During the remaining thirty-three years of the war, the men of renown, those summoned to the Assembly, together with all the heads of family of the congregation, shall choose for themselves fighting-men for all the lands of the nations. They shall arm for themselves warriors from all the tribes of Israel to enter the army year by year when they are summoned to war. But they shall arm no man for entry into the army during the years of Release, for they are Sabbaths of rest for Israel. In the thirty-five years of service, the war shall be fought during six; the whole congregation shall fight it together. And during the remaining twenty-nine years the war shall be divided. During the first year they shall fight against Aram-Naharaim; during the second, against the sons of Lud; during the third, against the remnant of the sons of Aram, against Uz and Hul and Togar and Mesha beyond the Euphrates; during the fourth and fifth, they shall fight against the sons of Arpachshad; during the sixth and seventh, against all the sons of Assyria and Persia and the East as far as the Great Desert; during the

7eighth year they shall fight against the sons of Elam; during the ninth, against the sons of Ishmael and Keturah. In the ten years which follow, the war shall be divided against all the sons of Ham according to [their clans and in their ha]bitations; and during the ten years which remain, the war shall be divided against all [the sons of Japheth in] their habitations.

8[The Rule for the trumpets of Summons and the trumpe]ts of Alarm according to all their duties ... [the trumpets of Summons shall sound for disposal in] III battle formations and to summon the foot-soldiers to advance when the gates of war shall open; and the trumpets of Alarm shall sound for massacre, and for ambush, and for pursuit when the enemy shall be smitten, and for retreat from battle. On the trumpets calling the congregation they shall write, The Called of God. On the trumpets calling the chiefs they shall write, The Princes of God. On the trumpets of the levies they shall write, The Army of God. On the trumpets of the men of renown and of the heads of family of the congregation gathered in the house of Assembly they shall write, Summoned by God to the Council of Holiness. On the trumpets of the camps they shall write, The Peace of God in the Camps of His Saints. And on the trumpets for breaking camp they shall write, The mighty Deeds of God shall Crush the Enemy, Putting to Flight all those who Hate Righteousness and bringing Shame on those who Hate Him. On the trumpets for battle formations they shall write, Formations of the Divisions of God for the Vengeance of His Wrath on the Sons of Darkness. On the trumpets summoning the foot-soldiers to advance towards the enemy formations when the gates of war are opened they shall write, Reminder of Vengeance in God's Appointed Time. On the trumpets of massacre they shall write, The Mighty Hand of God in War shall Cause all the Ungodly Slain to Fall. On the trumpets of ambush they shall write, The Mysteries of God

9shall Undo Wickedness. On the trumpets of pursuit they shall write, God has Smitten All the Sons of Darkness; His Fury shall not End until They are Utterly Consumed. On the trumpets of retreat, when they retreat from battle to the formation, they shall write, God has Reassembled. On the trumpets of return from battle against the enemy when they journey to the congregation in Jerusalem they shall write, Rejoicings of God in the Peaceful Return.

10The Rule for the standards of the whole congregation according to their levies On the great standard at the head of the people they shall write, The People of God, together with the names of Israel and Aaron, and the names of the twelve [tribes of Israel]. according to the order of their precedence. On the standards of the camp columns formed by three tribes they shall write, ... of God, together with the name of the leader of the camp ... On the standard of the tribe they shall write, Banner of God, together with the name of the leader of [the tribe and the names of the chiefs of its clans]. [On the standard of the Myriad they shall write, ... of God, together with] the name of the chief of the Myriad and the names of the [leaders of its Thousands]. [On the standard of the Thousand they shall write, ... of God, together with the name of the chief of the Thousand and the names of the leaders of its Hundreds]. [On the standard of Hundred] ... IV On the standard of Merari they shall write, The Votive-Offering of God, together with the name of the chief of Merari and the names of the leaders of its Thousands. On the standard of the Thousand they shall write, The Wrath of God is Kindled against Belial and against the Men of his Company, Leaving no Remnant, together with the name of the chief of the Thousand and the names of the leaders of its Hundreds.

11On the standard of the Hundred they shall write, From God comes the Might of War against All Sinful Flesh, together with the name of the chief of the Hundred and the names of the leaders of its Fifties. On the standard of the Fifty they shall write, The Stand of the Ungodly is Ended by the Power of God, together with the name of the chief of the Fifty and the names of the leaders of its Tens. On the standard of the Ten they shall write, Praised be God on the Ten-stringed Harp, together with the name of the chief of the Ten and the names of the nine men under his command.

12When they march out to battle they shall write on their standards, Truth of God, Justiceof God, Glory of God, Judgement of God, followed by the whole ordered list of their names. When they approach for battle they shall write on their standards, Right Hand of God, Appointed Time of God, Tumult of God, Slain of God, followed by the whole list of their names. When they return from battle they shall write on their standards, Honour of God, Majesty of God, Splendour of God, Glory of God, together with the whole list of their names.

13The Rule for the standards of the congregation When they set out for battle they shall write on the first standard Congregation of God, on the second standard Camps of God, on the third standard Tribes of God, on the fourth standard Clans of God, on the fifth standard Divisions of God, on the sixth standard Assembly of God, on the seventh standard The Called of God, on the eighth standard Hosts of God; and they shall write the list of their names with all their order. When they approach for battle they shall write on their standards, War of God, Vengeance of God, Trial of God, Reward of God, Power of God, Retributions of God, Might of God, Extermination of God for all the Nations of Vanity; and they shall write on them the whole list of their names. When they return from battle they shall write on their standards, Salvation of God, Victory of God, Help of God, Support of God, Joy of

14God, Thanksgivings of God, Praise of God, Peace of God.

15[The measurements of the standards.] The standard of the whole congregation shall be fourteen cubits long; the standard [of the three tribes,] thirteen cubits long; [the standard of the tribe,] twelve cubits; [the standard of the Myriad], eleven cubits; [the standard of the Thousand, ten cubits; the standard of the Hundred,] nine cubits; [the standard of the Fifty, eight] cubits; the standard of the Ten, s[even cubits] ... V And on the sh[ield of] the Prince of all the congregation they shall write his name, together with the names of Israel, Levi and Aaron, and the names of the twelve tribes of Israel according to the order of their precedence, with the names of their twelve chiefs.

16The Rule for the ordering of the battle divisions to complete a front formation when their host has reached its full number The formation shall consist of one thousand men ranked seven lines deep, each man standing behind the other. They shall all hold shields of bronze burnished like mirrors. The shield shall be edged with an interlaced border and with inlaid ornament, a work of art in pure gold and silver and bronze and precious stones, a many-coloured design worked by a craftsman. The length of the shield shall be two and a half cubits and its width one and a half cubits. In their hands they shall hold a spear and a sword. The length of the spear shall be seven cubits, of which the socket and spike shall measure half a cubit. The socket shall be edged with three embossed interlaced rings of pure gold and silver and bronze, a work of art. The inlaid ornaments on both edges of the ring shall be bordered with precious stones - patterned bands worked by a craftsman - and (embossed) with ears of corn. Between the rings, the socket shall be embossed with artistry like a pillar. The spike shall be made of brilliant white iron, the work of a craftsman; in its centre, pointing towards the tip, shall be ears of corn in pure gold. The swords shall be made of pure iron refined by the smelter and

17blanched to resemble a mirror, the work of a craftsman; on both sides (of their blades) pointing towards the tip, figured ears of corn shall be embossed in pure gold, and they shall have two straight borders on each side. The length of the sword shall be one and a half cubits and its width four fingers. The width of the scabbard shall be four thumbs. There shall be four palms to the scabbard (from the girdle), and it shall be attached (to the girdle) on both sides for a length of five palms (?). The hilt of the sword shall be of pure horn worked by a craftsman, with patterned bands in gold and silver and precious stones... vacat When... shall stand, the ... they shall order the seven battle divisions, division after division... thirty cubits where the me[n of the division] shall stand...

18VI seven times and shall return to their positions. And after them, three divisions of foot-soldiers shall advance and shall station themselves between the formations, and the first division shall hurl seven javelins of war towards the enemy formation. On the point of the javelins they shall write, ShiningJavelinof the Power of God; and on the darts of the second division they shall write, Bloody Spikes to Bring Down the Slain by the Wrath of God; and on the javelins of the third division they shall write, Flaming Blade to Devour the Wicked Struck Down by the Judgement of God. All these shall hurl their javelins seven times and shall afterwards return to their positions. Then two divisions of foot-soldiers shall advance and shall station themselves between the two formations. The first division shall be armed with a spear and a shield, and the second with a shield and a sword, to bring down the slain by the judgement of God, and to bend the enemy formation by the power of God, to pay the reward of their wickedness to all the nations of vanity. And sovereignty shall be to the God of Israel, and He shall accomplish mighty deeds by the saints of his people.

19Seven troops of horsemen shall also station themselves to the right and to the left of the formation; their troops shall stand on this (side) and on that, seven hundred horsemen on one flank and seven hundred

20horsemen on the other. Two hundred horsemen shall advance with the thousand men of the formation of foot-soldiers; and they shall likewise station themselves on both [flanks] of the camp. Altogether there shall be four thousand six hundred (men), and one thousand cavalrymen with the men of the army formations, fifty to each formation. The horsemen, together with the cavalry of the army shall number six thousand: five hundred to each tribe. The horses advancing into battle with the foot-soldiers shall all be stallions; they shall be swift, sensitive of mouth, and sound of wind, and of the required age, trained for war, and accustomed to noise and to every (kind of) sight. Their riders shall be gallant fighting men and skilled horsemen, and their age shall be from thirty to forty-five years. The horsemen of the army shall be from forty to fifty years old. They [and their mounts shall wear breast-plates,] helmets, and greaves; they shall carry in their hands bucklers, and a spear [eight cubits] long. [The horseman advancing with the foot-soldiers shall carry] bows and arrows and javelins of war. They shall all hold themselves prepared ... of God and to spill the blood of the wicked ...

21VII The men of the army shall be from forty to fifty years old. The inspectors of the camps shall be from fifty to sixty years old. The officers shall be from forty to fifty years old. The despoilers of the slain, the plunderers of booty, the cleansers of the land, the keepers of the baggage, and those who furnish the provisions shall be from twenty- five to thirty years old.

22No boy or woman shall enter their camps, from the time they leave Jerusalem and march out to war until they return. No man who is lame, or blind, or crippled, or afflicted with a lasting bodily blemish, or smitten with a bodily impurity, none of these shall march out to war with them. They shall all be freely enlisted for war, perfect in spirit and body and prepared for the Day of Vengeance. And no man shall go down with them on the day of battle who is impure because of his 'fount', for the holy angels shall be with their hosts. And there shall be a space of about two thousand cubits between all their camps for the place

23serving as a latrine, so that no indecent nakedness may be seen in the surroundings of their camps.

24When the battle formations are marshalled facing the enemy formation facing formation, seven Priests of the sons of Aaron shall advance from the middle gates to the place between the formations. They shall be clothed in vestments of white cloth of flax, in a fine linen tunic and fine linen breeches; and they shall be girdled with fine cloth of flax embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet thread, a many- coloured design worked by a craftsman. And on their heads they shall wear mitred turbans. These shall be battle raiment; they shall not take them into the Sanctuary. The first Priest shall advance before the men of the formation to strengthen their hand for battle, and the six other Priests shall hold in their hands the trumpets of Summons, and the trumpets of the Reminder, and the trumpets of Alarm (for massacre), and the trumpets of Pursuit, and the trumpets of Retreat. And when the Priests advance to the place between the formations, seven Levites shall accompany them bearing in their hands seven rams' horns; and three officers of the Levites shall walk before the Priests and Levites. The Priests shall sound the two trumpets of Sum[mons for the gates of] war to open fifty shields (wide) and the foot-soldiers shall advance, fifty from one gate [and fifty from the other. With them shall advance] the officers of the Levites, and they shall advance with every formation according to all this R[ule]. [The Priests shall sound the trumpets, and two divisions of foot-] soldiers [shall advance] from the gate [and shall] station [themselves] between the two [formations] ... VIII the trumpets shall sound to direct the slingers until they have cast seven times. Afterwards, the Priests shall sound for them the trumpets of Retreat and they shall return to the flank of the first formation to take up their position. Then the Priests shall sound the trumpets of Summons and three divisions of foot-soldiers shall advance from the gates and shall station themselves between the formations; the horsemen shall be on their flanks, to the right and to the left. The Priests shall sound a sustained blast on the trumpets for battle array, and the columns shall move to

25their (battle) array, each man to his place. And when they have taken up their stand in three arrays, the Priests shall sound a second signal, soft and sustained, for them to advance until they are close to the enemy formation. They shall seize their weapons, and the Priests shall then blow a shrill staccato blast on the six trumpets of Massacre to direct the battle, and the Levites and all the blowers of rams' horns shall sound a mighty alarm to terrify the heart of the enemy, and therewith the javelins shall fly out to bring down the slain. Then the sound of the horns shall cease, but the Priests shall continue to blow a shrill staccato blast on the trumpets to direct the battle until they have thrown seven times against the enemy formation. And then they shall sound a soft, a sustained, and a shrill sound on the trumpets of Retreat. It is according to this Rule that the Priests shall sound the trumpets for the three divisions. With the first throw, the [Priests] shall sound [on the trumpets] a mighty alarm to direct the ba[ttle until they have thrown seven times. Then] the Priests [shall sound] for them on the trumpets [of Retreat a soft, a sustained, and a shrill sound, and they shall return] to their positions in the formation. [Then the Priests shall blow the trumpets of Summons and the two divisions of foot-soldiers shall advance from the gates] and shall stand [between the formations. And the Priests shall then blow the trumpets of] Massacre, [and the Levites and all the blowers of rams' horns shall sound an alarm, a mighty blast, and therewith] IX they shall set about to bring down the slain with their hands. All the people shall cease their clamour but the Priests shall continue to blow the trumpets of Massacre to direct the battle until the enemy is smitten and put to flight; and the Priests shall blow to direct the battle. And when they are smitten before them, the Priests shall sound the trumpets of Summons and all the foot-soldiers shall rally to them from the midst of the front formations, and the six divisions, together with the fighting division, shall take up their stations. Altogether, they shall be seven formations: twenty-eight thousand fighting men and six thousand horsemen. All these shall pursue the enemy to destroy him in an everlasting destruction in the battle of God. The Priests shall sound for them the

26trumpets of Pursuit, and they shall deploy against all the enemy in a pursuit to destruction; and the horsemen shall thrust them back on the flanks of the battle until they are utterly destroyed. And as the slain men fall, the Priests shall trumpet from afar; they shall not approach the slain lest they be defiled with unclean blood. For they are holy, and they shall not profane the anointing of their priesthood with the blood of nations of vanity.

27The Rule for changes in battle order to form the position of a squa[re with towers], a concave line with towers, a convex line with towers, a shallow convex line obtained by the advance of the centre, or (by the advance of) both flanks to terrify the enemy The shields of the towers shall be three cubits long and their spears eight cubits. The tower shall advance from the formation and shall have one hundred shields to each side; in this [manner,] the tower shall be surrounded on three sides by three hundred shields. And it shall also have two gates, [one to the right] and one to the left. They shall write on all the shields of the towers: on the first, Michael, [on the second, Gabriel, on the third,] Sariel, and on the fourth, Raphael. Michael and Gabriel [shall stand on the right, and Sariel and Raphael on the left] ... they shall set an ambush to... ... X our camps and to keep us from all that is indecent and evil. Furthermore, (Moses) taught us, 'Thou art in the midst of us, a mighty God and terrible, causing all our enemies to flee before [us].' He taught our generations in former times saying, When you draw near to battle, the Priest shall rise and speak to the people saying, Hear, O Israel! You draw near to battle this day against your enemies. Do not fear! Do not let your hearts be afraid! Do not be [terrified], and have no fear! For your God goes with you to fight for you against your enemies that He may deliver you' (Deut. XX, 2-4). Our officers shall speak to all those prepared for battle. They shall strengthen by the power of God the freely devoted of heart, and shall make all the fearful of heart withdraw; they shall fortify all the mighty men of war. They shall recount that which Thou [saidst] through Moses: When you go to war in your land against the oppressor who oppresses you, [you] shall blow the trumpets, and you shall be

28remembered before your God and shall be saved from your enemies (Num. x, 9). O God of Israel, who is like Thee in heaven or on earth? Who accomplishes deeds and mighty works like Thine? Who is like Thy people Israel which Thou hast chosen for Thyself from all the peoples of the lands; the people of the saints of the Covenant, instructed in the laws and learned in wisdom ... who have heard the voice of Majesty and have seen the Angels of Holiness, whose ear has been unstopped, and who have heard profound things?

29[Thou, O God, hast created] the expanse of the heavens and the host of heavenly lights, the tasks of the spirits and the dominion of the Holy Ones, the treasury of glory [and the canopy of the] clouds. (Thou art Creator of) the earth and of the laws dividing it into desert and grassland;

30of all that it brings forth and of all its fruits [according to their kinds;] of the circle of the seas and of the gathering-place of the rivers and of the divisions of the deeps; of the beasts and birds and of the shape of Adam and of the gene[rations of] his [seed]; of the confusion of tongues and of the scattering of the peoples,

31of the dwelling in clans and of the inheritance of lands; ...of the sacred seasons and of the cycles of the years and of time everlasting. XI Truly the battle is Thine! Their bodies are crushed by the might of Thy hand and there is no man to bury them. Thou didst deliver Goliath of Gath, the mighty warrior, into the hands of David Thy servant, because in place of the sword and in place of the spear he put his trust in Thy great Name; for Thine is the battle. Many times, by Thy great Name, did he triumph over the Philistines. Many times hast Thou also delivered us by the hand of our kings through Thy loving-kindness, and not in accordance with our works by which we have done evil, nor according to our rebellious deeds. Truly the battle is Thine and the power from Thee! It is not ours. Our strength and the power of our hands accomplish no mighty deeds except by Thy power and by the might of Thy great valour. This Thou hast taught us from ancient times, saying, A star shall come out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel. He shall smite the temples of Moab and destroy all the children of Sheth. He shall rule out of Jacob and shall cause the survivors of the city to perish. The enemy shall be his possession and Israel shall accomplish mighty deeds (Num. xxiv, 17-19). By the hand of Thine anointed, who discerned Thy testimonies, Thou hast revealed to us the [times] of the battles of Thy hands that Thou mayest glorify Thyself in our enemies by levelling the hordes of Belial, the seven nations of vanity, by the hand of Thy poor whom Thou hast redeemed [by Thy might] and by the fullness of Thy marvellous power. (Thou hast opened) the door of hope to the melting heart: Thou wilt do to them as Thou didst to Pharaoh, and to the captains of his chariots in the Red Sea. Thou wilt kindle the downcast of spirit and they shall be a flaming torch in the straw to consume ungodliness and never to cease till iniquity is destroyed. From ancient times Thou hast fore[told the hour] when the might of Thy hand (would be raised) against the Kittim, saying, Assyria shall

32fall by the sword of no man, the sword of no mere man shall devour him (Isa. xxxi, 8). For Thou wilt deliver into the hands of the poor the enemies from all the lands, to humble the mighty of the peoples by the hand of those bent to the dust, to bring upon the [head of Thine enemies] the reward of the wicked, and to justify Thy true judgement in the midst of all the sons of men, and to make for Thyself an everlasting Name among the people [whom Thou hast redeemed] ... of battles to be magnified and sanctified in the eyes of the remnant of the peoples, that they may know... when Thou chastisest Gog and all his assembly gathered about him ... For Thou wilt fight with them from heaven... XII For the multitude of the Holy Ones [is with Thee] in heaven, and the host of the Angels is in Thy holy abode, praising Thy Name. And Thou hast established in [a community] for Thyself the elect of Thy holy people. [The list] of the names of all their host is with Thee in the abode of Thy holiness; [the reckoning of the saints] is in Thy glorious dwelling-place. Thou hast recorded for them, with the graving-tool of life, the favours of [Thy] blessings and the Covenant of Thy peace, that Thou mayest reign [over them] for ever and ever and throughout all the eternal ages. Thou wilt muster the [hosts of] Thine [el]ect, in their Thousands and Myriads, with Thy Holy Ones [and with all] Thine Angels, that they may be mighty in battle, [and may smite] the rebels of the earth by Thy great judgements, and that [they may triumph] together with the elect of heaven. For Thou art [terrible], O God, in the glory of Thy kingdom, and the congregation of Thy Holy Ones is among us for everlasting succour. We will despise kings, we will mock and scorn the mighty; for our Lord is holy, and the King of Glory is with us together with the Holy Ones. Valiant [warriors] of the angelic host are among our numbered men, and the Hero of war is with our congregation; the host of His spirits is with our foot-soldiers and horsemen. [They are as] clouds, as clouds of dew (covering) the earth, as a shower of rain shedding judgement on all that grows on the earth. Rise up, O Hero! Lead off Thy captives, O Glorious One!

33Gather up Thy spoils, O Author of mighty deeds! Lay Thy hand on the neck of Thine enemies and Thy feet on the pile of the slain! Smite the nations, Thine adversaries, and devour the flesh of the sinner with Thy sword! Fill Thy land with glory and Thine inheritance with blessing! Let there be a multitude of cattle in Thy fields, and in Thy palaces silver and gold and precious stones!

34O Zion, rejoice greatly! O Jerusalem, show thyself amidst jubilation! Rejoice, all you cities of Judah; keep your gates ever open that the hosts of the nations may be brought in!

35Their kings shall serve you and all your oppressors shall bow down before you; [they shall lick] the dust [of your feet]. Shout for joy, [O daughters of] my people! Deck yourselves with glorious jewels and rule over [the kingdoms of the nations! Sovereignty shall be to the Lord] and everlasting dominion to Israel. ... XIII (The High Priest) shall come, and his brethren the Priests and the Levites, and all the elders of the army shall be with him; and standing, they shall bless the God of Israel and all His works of truth, and shall execrate Belial there and all the spirits of his company. Speaking, they shall say: Blessed be the God of Israel for all His holy purpose and for His works of truth! Blessed be all those who [serve] Him in righteousness and who know Him by faith! Cursed be Belial for his sinful purpose and may he be execrated for his wicked rule! Cursed be all the spirits of his company for their

36ungodly purpose and may they be execrated for all their service of uncleanness! Truly they are the company of Darkness, but the company of God is one of [eternal] Light. [Thou art] the God of our fathers; we bless Thy Name for ever. We are the people of Thine [inheritance]; Thou didst make a Covenant with our fathers, and wilt establish it with their children throughout eternal ages. And in all Thy glorious testimonies there has been a reminder of Thy mercies among us to succour the remnant, the survivors of Thy Covenant, that they might [recount] Thy works of truth and the judgements of Thy marvellous mighty deeds. Thou hast created us for Thyself, [O God], that we may be an everlasting people. Thou hast decreed for us a destiny of Light according to Thy truth. And the Prince of Light Thou hast appointed from ancient times to come to our support; [all the sons of righteousness are in his hand], and all the spirits of truth are under his dominion. But Belial, the Angel of Malevolence, Thou hast created for the Pit; his [rule] is in Darkness and his purpose is to bring about wickedness and iniquity. All the spirits of his company, the Angels of Destruction, walk according to the precepts of Darkness; towards them is their [inclination]. But let us, the company of Thy truth, rejoice in Thy mighty hand and be glad for Thy salvation, and exult because of Thy suc[cour and] peace. O God of Israel, who can compare with Thee in might? Thy mighty hand is with the poor. Which angel or prince can compare with Thy [redeeming] succour? [For Thou hast appointed] the day of battle from ancient times ... [to come to the aid] of truth and to destroy iniquity, to bring Darkness low and to magnify Light ... to stand for ever, and to destroy all the sons of Darkness ...

37... XIV like the fire of His wrath against the idols of Egypt. And when they have risen from the slain to return to the camp, they shall all sing the Psalm of Return. And in the morning, they shall wash their garments, and shall cleanse themselves of the blood of the bodies of the ungodly. And they shall return to the positions in which they stood in battle formation before the fall of the enemy slain, and

38there they shall all bless the God of Israel. Rejoicing together, they shall praise His Name, and speaking they shall say: Blessed be the God of Israel who keeps mercy towards His Covenant, and the appointed times of salvation with the people He has delivered!

39He has called them that staggered to [marvellous mighty deeds], and has gathered in the assembly of the nations to destruction without any remnant. He has lifted up in judgement the fearful of heart and has opened the mouth of the dumb that they might praise {the mighty} (4Q491) works [of God]. He has taught war [to the hand] of the feeble and steadied the trembling knee; he has braced the back of the smitten. Among the poor in spirit [there is power] over the hard of heart, and by the perfect of way all the nations of wickedness have come to an end: not one of their mighty men stands, but we are the remnant [of Thy people.]

40{Blessed be} (4Q491) Thy Name, O God of mercies, who hast kept the Covenant with our fathers. In all our generations Thou hast bestowed Thy wonderful favours on the remnant [of Thy people] under the dominion of Belial. During all the mysteries of his Malevolence he has not made [us] stray from Thy Covenant; Thou hast driven his spirits [of destruction] far from [us], Thou hast preserved the soul of Thy redeemed [when the men] of his dominion {acted wickedly) (4Q491).

41Thou hast raised the fallen by Thy strength, but hast cut down the great in height [and hast brought down the lofty]. There is no rescue for all their mighty men and no refuge for their swift men; Thou givest to their honoured men a reward of shame, all their empty existence [hast Thou turned to nothing].

42But we, Thy holy people, will praise Thy Name because of the works of Thy truth. We will exalt Thy splendour because of Thy mighty deeds [in all the] seasons and appointed times for ever, at the coming of day and at nightfall and at the departure of evening and morning. For great {is the design of Thy glory} (4Q49I) and of Thy wonderful mysteries on high that [Thou shouldst raise up] dust before Thee and lay low the 'gods'.

43Rise up, rise up, O God of gods, raise Thyself in mig{ht, King of Kings} (4.Q491)! May all the sons of Darkness [scatter before Thee]! The light of Thy greatness [shall shine forth] [on 'go] ds' and men. [It shall be like a fire bur]ning in the dark places of perdition; it shall burn the sinners in the perdition of hell, in an eternal blaze ... in all the eternal seasons. They shall recite there [all the] war [hy]mns. Afterwards they shall return to [their] cam[ps] ... XV For this shall be a time of distress for Israel, [and of the summons] to war against all the nations. There shall be eternal deliverance for the company of God, but destruction for all the nations of wickedness. All those [who are ready] for battle shall march out and shall pitch

44their camp before the king of the Kittim and before all the host of Belial gathered about him for the Day [of Revenge] by the Sword of God. Then the High Priest shall rise, with the [Priests], his brethren, and the Levites, and all the men of the army, and he shall recite aloud the Prayer in Time of War [written in the Book] of the Rule concerning this time, and also all their Hymns. He shall marshal all the formations there, as is [written in the Book of War], and the priest appointed for the Day of Revenge by the voice of all his brethren shall go forward to strengthen the [hearts of the fighting men]. Speaking, he shall say: Be strong and valiant; be warriors! Fear not! Do not be [confused and do not let your hearts be afraid!] Do not be fearful; fear them not! Do not fall back ... for they are a congregation of wickedness and all their works are in Darkness; they tend towards Darkness. [They make for themselves] a refuge [in falsehood] and their power shall vanish like smoke. All the multitudes of their community... shall not be found. Damned as they are, all the substance of their wickedness shall quickly fade, like a flower in [the summer-time]. [Be brave and] strong for the battle of God! For this day is [the time of the battle of] God against all the host of Belial, [and of the judgement of] all flesh. The God of Israel lifts His hand in His marvellous [might] against all the spirits of wickedness. [The hosts of] the warrior 'gods' gird themselves for battle, [and the] formations of the Holy Ones [prepare themselves], for the Day [of Revenge] ... XVI... For the God of Israel has called out the sword against all the nations, and He will do mighty deeds by the saints of His people.

45And they shall obey all this Rule [on] the [day] when they stand before the camps of the Kittim The Priests shall afterwards sound for them the trumpets of the Reminder, and the gates of war shall open; the foot-soldiers shall advance and the columns shall station themselves between the formations. The Priests shall sound for them the signal, 'Battle Array', and at the sound of the trumpets the columns [shall deploy] until every man is in his place. The Priests shall then sound a second signal [for them to advance], and when they are within throwing distance of the formation of the Kittim, each man shall seize his weapon of war. Then

46the six [Priests shall blow on] the trumpets of Massacre a shrill staccato blast to direct the battle, and the Levites and all the blowers of rams' horns shall sound [a battle alarm], a mighty clamour; and with this clamour they shall begin to bring down the slain from among the Kittim. All the people shall cease their clamour, [but the Priests shall continue to] sound the trumpets of Massacre, and battle shall be fought against the Kittim (vacat). And when [Belial] girds himself to come to the aid of the sons of darkness, and when the slain among the foot- soldiers begin to fall by the mysteries of God, and when all the men appointed for battle are put to ordeal by them, the Priests shall sound the trumpets of Summons for another formation of the reserve to advance into battle; and they shall take up their stand between the formations. And for those engaged [in battle] they shall sound the 'Retreat'. Then the High Priest shall draw near, and standing before the formation, he shall strengthen by the power of God their hearts [and hands] in His battle. Speaking he shall say: ... the slain, for you have heard from ancient times through the mysteries of God ... ... XVII He will pay their reward with burning [fire by the hand of] those tested in the crucible. He will sharpen His weapons and will not tire until all the wicked nations are destroyed. Remember the judgement [of Nadab and Ab]ihu, sons of Aaron, by whose judgement God showed Himself holy in the eyes [of Israel. But Eleazar] and Ithamar He confirmed in an everlasting [priestly] Covenant. Be strong and fear not; [for they tend] towards chaos and confusion, and they lean on that which is not and [shall not be. To the God] of Israel belongs all that is and shall be; [He knows] all the happenings of eternity. This is the day appointed by Him for the defeat and overthrow of the Prince of the kingdom of wickedness, and He will send eternal succour to the company of His redeemed by the might of the princely Angel of the kingdom of Michael. With everlasting light He will enlighten with joy [the children] of Israel; peace and blessing shall be with the company of God. He will raise up the kingdom of Michael in the midst of the gods, and the realm of Israel in the midst of all flesh. Righteousness shall rejoice on high, and all the children of His truth shall jubilate in eternal knowledge. And you, the sons of His Covenant,

47be strong in the ordeal of God! His mysteries shall uphold you until He moves His hand for His trials to come to an end. After these words, the Priests shall sound to marshal them into the divisions of the formation; and at the sound of the trumpets the columns shall deploy until [every man is] in his place. Then the Priests shall sound a second signal on the trumpets for them to advance, and when the [foot-]soldiers approach throwing distance of the formation of the Kittim, every man shall seize his weapon of war. The Priests shall blow the trumpets of Massacre, [and the Levites and all] the blowers of rams' horns shall sound a battle alarm, and the foot-soldiers shall stretch out their hands against the host of the Kittim; [and at the sound of the alarm] they shall begin to bring down the slain. All the people shall cease their clamour, but the Priests shall continue to blow [the trumpets of Massacre and battle shall be fought against the Kittim.] ... and in the third lot ... that the slain may fall [by the mysteries] of God ... XVIII [In the seventh lot] when the great hand of God is raised in an everlasting blow against Belial and all the hosts of his kingdom, and when Assyria is pursued [amidst the shouts of Angels] and the clamour of the Holy Ones, the sons of Japheth shall fall to rise no more. The Kittim shall be crushed without [remnant, and no man shall be saved from among them]. [At that time, on the day] when the hand of the God of Israel is raised against all the multitude of Belial, the Priests shall blow [the six trumpets] of the Reminder and all the battle formations shall rally to them and shall divide against all the [camps of the] Kittim to destroy them utterly. [And as] the sun speeds to its setting on that day, the High Priest shall stand, together [with the Levites] who are with him and the [tribal] chiefs [and the elders] of the army, and they shall bless the God of Israel there. Speaking they shall say: Blessed be Thy Name, O God [of gods], for Thou hast worked great marvels [with Thy people]! Thou hast kept Thy Covenant with us from of old, and hast opened to us the gates of salvation many times. For the [sake of Thy Covenant Thou hast removed our misery, in accordance with] Thy [goodness] towards us. Thou hast acted for the sake of Thy Name, O God of righteousness ... [Thou hast worked a marvellous] miracle [for us], and from ancient times there never was anything like it.

48For Thou didst know the time appointed for us and it has appeared [before us] this day ... [Thou hast shown] us [Thy merciful hand] in everlasting redemption by causing [the dominion of] the enemy to fall back for ever. (Thou hast shown us) Thy mighty hand in [a stroke of destruction in the war against all] our enemies. And now the day speeds us to the pursuit of their multitude ... Thou hast delivered up the hearts of the brave so that they stand no more. For Thine is the power, and the battle is in Thy hands! ... XIX For our Sovereign is holy and the King of Glory is with us; the [host of his spirits is with our foot-soldiers and horsemen. They are as clouds, as clouds of dew] covering the earth, and as a shower of rain shedding righteousness on [all that grows there]. [Rise up, O Hero! Lead off Thy captives, O Glorious One! Gather up] Thy spoils, O Author of mighty deeds! Lay Thy hand on the neck of Thine enemies and Thy feet [on the pile of the slain! Smite the nations, Thine adversaries], and devour flesh with Thy sword! Fill Thy land with glory and Thine inheritance with blessing!

49[Let there be a multitude of cattle in Thy fields, and in] Thy palaces [silver and gold and precious stones]!

50O Zion, rejoice greatly! Rejoice all you cities of Judah! [Keep your gates ever open that the] hosts of the nations [may be brought in]! Their kings shall serve you and all your oppressors shall bow down before you; [they shall lick the dust of your feet. Shout for joy, O daughters of] my people!

51Deck yourselves with glorious jewels [and rule over the kingdom of the nations! Sovereignty shall be to the Lord] and everlasting dominion to Israel. (1QM combined with 4QMb=4Q492) {Then they shall gather in} the camp that night to rest until the morning. And in the morning {they shall go to the place where the formation stood before the} warriors of the Kittim fell, as well as the multitudes of Assyria, and the hosts of all the [assembled] nations {to discover whether} the multitude of the stricken are dead {with none to bury them}, those who fell there under the Sword of God. And the High Priest shall draw near, [with his vicar, and the chief Priests] {and the Levites} with the Prince of the battle, and all the chiefs of the formations and their numbered men; [they shall return to the positions which they held before the] slain [began to fall] from among the Kittim, and there they shall praise the God {the Most High} ...

The War Scroll from Cave 4 (4Q491, 493)

1Of the two groups of fragments belonging to Ma (4Q491), the first echoes sections from columns II, VII, XVI and XVII of 1QM, but it also contains passages without parallels there. The second unit, a poem, entitled by the editor 'The Song of Michael and of the Just', is additional to 1QM. As for the manuscript designated Mc (4Q493), its surviving lines recall 1QM VII, xvi, etc., but do not represent the same recension. Ma = 4Q491, frs. 1-3 ... There shall be one thousand cubits between the [camp and the latrine and] no nakedness [whatever] shall be seen in their surroundings. And when they set out to prepare the battle [to cur]b [the enemy, there shall be] among them some exempted in the lot of each tribe according to their numbered men for [each] day's duty. On that day, some men from all their tribes shall set out from their camps towards the House of Meeting ... the [Priest]s, the Levites, and all the chiefs of the camps shall go out towards them. They will pass there before ... according to the Thousands, Hundreds, Fifties and Tens. Whoever shall not [be clean because of his 'fount' on] that [nig]ht shall not go with them to the battle, for the holy angels shall be with their formations together ... When the formation called up for that day's battle to pass to all ... of the war, three formations shall stand, formations behind formations. They shall set a space between [all] the formations [and they shall go out] to battle in succession. These are the [foot-soldie]rs and beside them the [horse]men. [They shall stand

2between the forma]tions. And if they set up an ambush for a formation, the three ambushing formations shall be at a distance and shall not ri[se] ... of the war and they [shall he]ar the trumpets of Alarm and the [foot-]soldiers [will begin to bring dow]n the guilty dead. Afterwards the ambush shall rise from its hiding-place arranged in formations. The reassembly: from the right and from the left, from be[hind and from the front, f]our direction[s] ... in the battles of annihilation. And all the formations engaged in combat with the ene[my will be in] one [place. The f]irst formation [will go out to the battle] and the second stand ... on their post. With the completion of their time, the first shall return and rise ... The sec[ond] ... When the battle is joined. And the second formation shall have completed its time and they shall return and st[and on their post]. And the th[ird] ... And the chief Priest and his brethren, [the Priests, and] the Levites and the m[en of the orde]r [shall stand]. And the Priests shall blow the trumpets continuously ... and a girdle of fine cloth of flax embroidered with blue, purple and scarlet threads, a many-coloured design produced by a craftsman, and a fine linen tunic and fine linen breeches and a mitred turban [on their heads]. They shall not take them to the sanctuary f[or] they are ba[ttle] raiments. According to all this rule ...

The Book of War (4Q285, 11Q14)

1A collection of ten small fragments, designated by J. T. Milik as Serekh ha-Milhamah or Rule of War, are akin to the War Scroll, probably representing its missing end section. Allusions are found to Levites blowing trumpets (fr. 8), to the archangel Michael (fr. 10), to the Prince of the Congregation, identified as the Branch of David (frs. 4 and 7), as well as to the Kittim and their slain (frs. 2, 4, 7), all familiar from 1QM. The poorly preserved benediction (fr. 8) can be reconstructed with the help of 11Q14 which contains, however, some notable variants. Fragment 4 seems to identify the defeated opponent as the biblical Gog (Ezek. xxxix), the chief foe of the final age, here no doubt equated with the king of the Kittim. Fragment 7, erroneously labelled by some as the 'Pierced Messiah fragment', is based on an interpretation of Isa. x, 34-xi, 1, and should be read in connection with 4Q161, frs. 8-10, an Isaiah Commentary from Cave 4, and the Blessing of the Prince of the Congregation (1QSb, v, 20-29), both referring to the triumphant Davidic Messiah, expected to put an opponent, no doubt the king of the Kittim, to death. Only frs. 1, 4, 7 and 8 are suitable for translation. For the editioprinceps, see P. S. Alexander and G. Vermes, DJD, XXXVI, 228-46. For 11Q14, see F. García Martinez et a/., DJD, XXIII, 243-51. For a preliminary study, see G. Vermes, 'The Oxford Forum for Qumran Research: Seminar on the Rule of War (4Q285)', JJS 43 (1992), 85-90.

24Q285, fr. 1 ... because of Thy name and ... Michael, G[abrie]l, [Sariel and Raphael] ... with the elect of ... 4Q285, fr. 4 ... wickedness will be smitten ... [the Prin]ce of the Congregation and all Is[rael] ... [which wa]s written [in the book of Ezekiel the Prophet, I will strike your bow from your left hand and will make your arrows drop from your right hand.] On the mountains of [Israel you shall fall] ... [the king of] the Kittim ... [the Pr]ince of the congregation [will pursue them] as far as the [Great] Sea ... [and they shall fle]e from before Israel. In that time ... he shall stand against them and they shall be stirred against them ... and they shall return to the dry land. In that time ... and they shall bring him (the king of the Kittim?) before the Prince [of the Congregation] 4Q285.fr. 7 The Messiah, Branch of David [As it is written in the book of] Isaiah the Prophet, [The thickets of the forest] will be cut [down with an axe and Lebanon by a majestic one will f] all. And there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse [...] the Branch of David and they will enter into judgement with [...] and the Prince of the Congregation, the Br[anch of David] will kill him [ ... by strok]es and by wounds. And a Priest [of renown(?)] will command [ ... the s]lai[n] of the Kitti[m ... ]

34Q285, fr.8 [Answering, he shall say] to the sons of [I]srael: May you be blessed in the name of the Most High [God] ... and may His holy name be blessed for ever and ever. [May all His holy angels be blessed. May] the M[ost High] God [bless] you. [May He shine His face towards you and open for you His] good [treasure] which is in heaven [to bring down on your land] showers of blessing, dew, rain, [early rain] and late rain in His/its time, and to give [you the fruit of the produce of corn, wine and o]il plentiful. And may the land [prod]uce for [you fruits of delight. And you shall eat and grow fa]t. And there shall be no miscarriage [in yo]ur [la]n[d] and no [sickness, blight or mildew] shall be seen in [its] produ[ce. And there shall be no loss of children n]or stumbling in [your] congrega[tion, and wild beasts shall withdraw] from your land and there shall be no pestil[ence in your land.] For God is wi[th you and His holy angels stand in your congregation, and His] holy [name] shall be invoked upon you ... in your midst... 11Q14 And he shall bless them in the name [of the God] of Israel. Answering he shall say, ... to the sons of Israel: May [yo]u be blessed for ever and ever and may His ... be blessed ... and may His holy angels be blessed. May the Most High God bless you. May He shine His face towards you and open to you His good treasure which is in heaven to bring down on your land showers of blessing, dew, rain, early rain and late rain in His/its time to give you the fruit of the produce of corn, wine and oil plentiful. May the land produce for you fruits of delight. And you shall eat and grow fat. And there shall be no miscarriage in your land and no sickness, blight or mildew shall be seen in its produce. There shall be no loss of children, nor stumbling in your congregation and the

4wild beasts shall withdraw from [your land.] The sword shall not pass through your land. For God is with you and His holy angels shall be present in your congregation, and His holy name shall be invoked upon you.

The Temple Scroll (11QT=11Q19-21, 4Q365a, 4Q524)

1Discovered in 1956 in Cave II, the Temple Scroll did not emerge from semi-clandestinity until the Six Day War in June 1967. It is the longest Qumran manuscript, measuring over twenty-eight feet. There are also other fragments pertaining to the same document from Cave 11 (11Q20) and from Cave 4 (4Q365a). Originally it consisted of sixty- seven columns. The major part of the scroll deals with the Temple (building and furniture) and cultic worship, especially sacrifices on Sabbaths and the many feasts of the year. Most of the legislation depends, directly or indirectly, on Exodus, Leviticus, and more particularly on Deuteronomy, but there are also occasional non-biblical regulations. The beginning of the manuscript is badly mutilated. Column I is missing. Columns III-XII are so fragmented that only a very hypothetical reconstruction, exclusively from biblical texts, is possible (cf. most extensively E. Qimron, The Temple Scroll, 1996). I have decided not to translate them but indicate their probable contents in the summary that follows: 1. Covenant between God and Israel (II). 2. Building of the Temple, measurements of the Sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, the chambers and colonnades (III-VII). 3. Description of the mercy seat, the cherubim, the veil, the table, the golden lamp-stand, etc. (VII-XI). 4. Outline of the sacrificesand the altar (XI-XII). 5. Daily, weekly and monthly sacrifices and those offered on festivals (XIII-XXIX). 6. Buildings in the Temple courtyards: the stairhouse, the house of

2the laver, the house for sacred vessels, the slaughterhouse, etc. (xxx-xxxv). 7. The three courtyards of the Temple, one for the priests, one for Jewish men over twenty years of age, and one for women and children (XXXVI-XLV). 8. Purity regulations concerning the Temple and the city of the Sanctuary (XLVI-XLVIII). 9. Purity regulations concerning the cities of Israel (XLVIII-LI). 10. Judges and officers (LI). 11. Laws relating to idolatry and to sacrificial animals (LI-LIII). 12. Vows and oaths (LIII-LIV). 13. Laws against apostasy (LIV-LV). 14. Laws relating to priests and Levites and detailed statutes of the Jewish king (LVI-LIX). 15. Miscellaneous laws regarding priestly dues, idols, witnesses, the conduct of war, the rebellious son, crimes punishable by 'hanging', and incestuous relations (LX-LXVI). The sequence of subjects generally follows the Bible, but an obvious effort has been made to systematize, harmonize and reinterpret the laws. Sections complementary to Scripture include the Temple legislation (III-XII, XXX-XLV), festivals (XVII-XXIX), purity material as rules relating to the Temple and the city (XLVI-XLVII), and the statutes of the king (LVI—LIX). The aim of the redactor is to present the message of the scroll not as an interpretation of the Bible, but as an immediate divine revelation. For this purpose, not only does he formulate the supplementary legislation as directly spoken by God, but also frequently substitutes 'I' for 'the Lord = YHWH' of Scripture. Although the view has been advanced that the Temple Scroll is not a Qumran composition, the contrary thesis has a solid foundation. The relationship between this writing and the Damascus Document is particularly striking in the case of the prohibition of royal polygamy, of marriage between uncle and niece, and of marital relations within the city of the Sanctuary (compare CD IV, 20-V, II; XII, 1-2 with TS LVII, 16- 18; LXVI, 15-17; XLV, 11-12), to name the most significant instances. Note also that the death penalty of 'hanging' (probably crucifixion) reserved for traitors appears both in TS LXIV, 6-13 and in the Nahum

3Commentary (cf. p. 504). Since the Damascus Document and the Nahum Commentary are more likely to depend on the Temple Scroll than vice versa, the latter may safely be dated to the second century BCE. But it may also have an antecedent history reaching back to the pre-Qumran age. As noted, Cave 4 has also yielded five fairly mutilated fragments (4Q365a), palaeographically dated to the mid-first century BCE, some of which have been used by Yadin. Fragment 1 deals with the festival of Unleavened Bread (11QTS XVII, II); fragment 2 corresponds to 11QTS XXXVIII, 4-15 while the other three fragments cannot be placed within the known version of the text. The composition is available in a magisterial edition by Yigael Yadin, who first published it in Hebrew in 1977 and subsequently, shortly before his death, in English under the title The Temple Scroll I- III (Jerusalem, 1983). My translation is often indebted to Yadin's editorial work. Further improvements are due to E. Qimron, The Temple Scroll: A Critical Edition with Extensive Reconstructions (Beer-Sheva/Jerusalem, 1996). For 11Q20-21, see F. García Martínez et al., DJD, XXIII, 357-414. For 4Q365a, see S. White, DJD, XIII, 319- 33. For 4Q524, see E. Puech, DJD, XXV, 79-114.

4II [Behold, I will make a covenant.] [For it is something dreadful that I] will do [to you.] [I myself will expel from before you] the A[morites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashit]es, the Pe[rizzites, the Hivites and] the Jebusites. Ta[ke care not to make a cove]nant with the inhabitants of the country [which you are to] enter so that they may not prove a sn[are for you.] You must destroy their [alta]rs, [smash their] pillars [and] cut down their [sacred trees and burn] [their] idols [with fire]. You must not desire silver and gold so [that you may not be ensnared by them; for that would be abominable to me]. You must [not] br[ing any abominable idol] into your house [and come] under the ban together with it. You shall de[test and abominate it], for it is under the ban. You shall not worship [another] go[d, for YHWH, whose name is] [Jealous], is a jealous God. Take care not to make a [covenant with the inhabitants of the country] [so that, when they whore] after [their go]ds [and] sacrifice to [them and

5invite you,] [you may not eat of their sacrifices and] t[ake their daughters for your sons, and their daughters may not whore after] their [gods] and cau[se your sons to whore after them.] ... 94 XIII [This is what you shall offer on the altar:] t[wo y]ear[ling lambs] without blemish [every day as a perpetual holocaust. You shall offer the first in the morning; and you shall offer the other lamb in the evening; the corresponding grain-offering will be a te]nth of fine flour mixed with [a quarter of a hin of beaten oil; it shall be a perpetual holocaust of soothing odour, an offering by fire] to YHWH; and the corresponding drink-offering shall be a quart[er of a hin of] wine. [The priest who offers the holocaust shall receive the skin of] the burnt-[offering which he has offered. You shall offer the other lamb in the even]ing with the same grain-[offering as in the] morning and with the corresponding drink-offering as an offering by fire, a soothing odour to YHWH ... On the S[abbath] days you shall offer two [yearling rams without blemish and two] XIV [tenths of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with oil, for a grain-offering and the corresponding drink-offering. This is the holocaust of every Sabbath in addition to the perpetual holocaust and the corresponding drink-offering. On the first day of each month you shall offer a holocaust to YHWH: two young bulls, one ram, seven yearling rams without blemish and a grain-offe]ring of fine flour, [three tenths of an ephah] mix[ed with half a hin of oil, and a drink-offering, ha]lf a hin for [each young bull and a grain-offering of fine flour mixed with oil, two tenths of an ephah] with a third [of a hin, and wine for a drink-offering, one third of a hinfor each ram;] ... one tenth [of fine flour for] a grain-[offering, mixed with a quarter of a hin, and wine, a quarter of a hi]n for each lamb ... a soothing [odour] to YHWH on the first day of each month. This is the burnt-offering for each month for the months of the year ... On the first day of the [first] month [the months (of the year) shall start; it shall be the first month] of the year [for you. You shall do no] work. [You shall offer a he-goat for a sin-offering.] It shall be offered by itself to expiate [for you. You shall offer a holocaust: a bullock], a ram, [seven yearli]ng ram lambs [without blemish] ... [ad]di[tional to the bu]r[nt-offering for the new moon, and a grain- offering of three tenths of fine flour mixed with oil], half a hin [for each bullock, and wi]ne for a drink-offering, [half a hin, a soothing odour to

6YHWH, and two] tenths of fine flour mixed [with oil, one third of a hin. You shall offer wine for a drink-offering,] one th[ird] of a hin for the ram, [an offering by fire, of soothing odour to YHWH; and one tenth of fine flour], a grain-offerin[g mixed with a quarter of a hinof oil. You shall offer wine for a drink-offering, a quarter of a hin] for each [ram] ... lambs and for the he-g[oat] ... XV [ea]ch day ... seven [year]ling [lambs] and a he-[goat] ... according to this statute. For the ordination (of the priests), one ram for each [day, and] baskets of bread for all the ra[ms of the ordination, one basket for] each [ram]. They shall divide all the rams and the baskets for the seve[n days of the ordination for each] day; according to [their] division[s, they shall offer to YHWH the right thigh] of the ram as a holocaust and [the fat covering the entrails and the] two kidneys and the fat on them [and on] the loins and the whole fat tail close to the backbone and the appendage of the liver and the corresponding grain-offering and drink-offering according to the sta[tute. They shall take one unleavened cake from the] basket and one cake of bread with oil and [one] wafer, [and they shall put it all on the fat] together with the offering of the right thigh. Those who sacrifice shall wave the rams and the baskets of bread as a wa[ve-offering be]fore YHWH. This is a holocaust, an offering by fire, of soothing odour before YHWH. [They shall burn everything on the altar over] the holocaust, to complete their ordination during the seven days of [ordination]. If the High Priest is to [minister to YHWH, whoever] has been ordained to put on the vestments in place of his father, shall offer [a bull fo]r all the people and another for the priests. He shall offer the one for the priests first. The elders of the priest[s] shall lay [their hands] XVI [on] its [hea]d and after them the High Priest and all the [priests. They shall slaughter] the bull [before YHWH]. The elders of the priests shall take from the blood of the bull and [place] it [with their finger on the horns of the altar] and they shall pour [the blood] around the four corners of the [altar] ledge ... [and they shall take from its blood and pl]ace it [on his right ear lobe and on the thumb of his right hand and the big toe of his] right [foot. They shall sprinkle on him and his vestments some of the blood which was on the altar]... [he] shall be [holy] all his days. [He shall not go near any dead body]. He shall [not]

7render himself unclean [even for his father or mother,] for [he is] hol[y to YHWH, his God] ... [He shall offer on the al]tar and burn [the fat of the first bull] ... [all] the fat on the entrails and [the appendage of the liver and the two kidne]ys and the fat on the[m] and [the fat on] the loins, and the corresponding grain-offering and drink-[offering according to their statute,] he shall bur[n them on the altar.] It shall be [a burnt-]offering, an offering by fire, of soothing odour be[fore YHWH. The flesh of the bull], its skin and offal, they shall burn outside the [sanctuary city on a wood fire] in a place reserved for sin-offerings. There they shall bur[n it with its head and legs] together with all its entrails. They shall burn all of it there except the fat. It is a sin-[offering]. He shall take the second bull, which is for the people, and by it he shall expiate [for all the people of] the assembly, by its blood and fat. As he did with the fir[st] bull, [so he shall do] with the bull of the assembly. He shall place with his finger some of its blood on the horns of the [altar, and the remainder of] its blood, he shall sprinkle o[n the f]our corners of the altar ledge, and [its fat and] the corresponding [grain-] offering and drink-offering, he shall burn on the altar. It is a sin-offering for the assembly. XVII ... They shall rejoice because expiation has been made for them ... This day [shall] be a holy gathering for them, [an eternal rule for all their generations] wherever they dwell. They shall rejoice and ... [Let] them [prepare on the fourtee]nth day of the first month [between dusk and dark the Passover of YHWH]. They shall sacrifice (it) before the evening offering and shall sacrifice ... men from twenty years of age and over shall prepare it. They shall eat it at night in the holy courts. They shall rise early and each shall go to his tent ... On the fifteenth day of this month (there shall be) a ho[ly] gathering. You shall do no work of labour on it. (It shall be) a seven-day feast of unleavened bread for YHWH. You shall offer on each of the[se] seven days a holocaust to YHWH: two young bulls, a ram, and seven ram lambs without blemish and a he-goat for a sin-offering and the corresponding grain-offering and drink-offering [according to the sta]tute for the young bulls, rams, l[am]bs and the he-goat. On the seventh day [(there shall be) an assembly] for [YHWH]. You shall do no work on it. XVIII ... [he-] goat for a sin-offering ... [the corresponding grain-offering and drink-] offering according to the statute; one tenth of

8fine flour [mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil and] a quarter of a hin of wine for a drink-offering ... [he shall expiate] for all the guilt of the people of the assembly ... This shall be an eternal [ru]le for you [for your generations wherever you dwell.] Then they shall offer the one ram, on[ce], on the day of the waving of the sheaf. You shall count seven complete Sabbaths from the day of your bringing the sheaf of [the wave-offering. You shall c]ount until the morrow of the seventh Sabbath. You shall count [fifty] days. You shall bring a new grain-offering to YHWH from your homes, [a loaf of fine fl]ou[r], freshly baked with leaven. They are firstfruits to YHWH, wheat bread, twe[lve cakes, two] tenths of fine flour in each cake ... the tribes of Israel. They shall offer XIX ... their [grain-offerin]g and dr[ink-offering] according to the statute. The [priests] shall wave ... [wave-offering with the bread of] the firstfruits. They shall b[elong to] the priests and they shall eat them in the [inner] court[yard], [as a ne]w [grain-offering], the bread of the firstfruits. Then ... new bread from freshly ripened ears. [On this] da[y] there shall be [a holy gathering, an eter]nal [rule] for their generations. [They] shall [do] no work. It is the feast of Weeks and the feast of Firstfruits, an eterna[l] memorial. You [shall count] seven weeks from the day when you bring the new grain-offering to YHW [H], the bread of firstfruits. Seven full Sabbaths [shall elapse un]til you have counted fifty days to the morrow of the seventh Sabbath. [You] shall [bring] new wine for a drink-offering, four hins from all the tribes of Israel, one third of a hin for each tribe. They shall offer on this day with the wine twelve rams to YHWH; all the chiefs of the clans of Israel XX ... [r]ams and the corresponding grain-offering according to the statute: two [tenths of fine flour mixed with oil, one third of a h]in of oil for a ram; with this drink-offering ... seven yearling ram lambs and a he-[goat] ... assembly ... their [grain- offering and drink-offering] (shall be) according to the statute concerning young bulls and the ram ... to YHWH. At the quarter of the day, they shall offer ... [the r]ams and the drink-offering. They shall offer ... fourteen yearling ram lambs ... the burnt-offering. They shall prepare them ... and they shall burn their fat on the altar, [the fat covering the entrails] and the fat that is on them, and [the appendage of the liver with] the kidneys he shall remove and the fat on [them], and that which

9is on the loins and the fat tail close to the backbone. They shall b[urn all on the altar] together with the corresponding grain-offering and drink- offering, an offering by fire, of soothing odou[r before YHWH]. They shall offer every grain-offering joined to a drink-offering according to [the statute]. They shall take a handful from [eve]ry grain-offering offered either with frankincense or dry, (this being) its [memorial portion], and burn it on the altar. They shall eat the remainder in the [in]n[er] courtyard. The priests shall e[a]t it unleavened. It shall not be eaten with leaven. It shall be ea[ten] on that day [before] sun[se]t. They shall salt all their offerings. You shall never allow the covenant of salt to fail. They shall offer to YHWH an offering from the rams and the lambs, the right thigh, the breast, [the cheeks, the stomac]h and the foreleg as far as the shoulder bone, and they shall wave them as a wave-offering. XXI [The priests'] portions [shall] be the thigh of the offering and the breast ... [the foreleg]s, the cheeks and the stomachs ... [as an eternal rule, from the children of Isra]el and the shoulder remaining of the foreleg [shall be for the Levites] ... an eternal rule for them and for their seed .. the princes of the Thousands ... [from] the rams and from [the lambs, one ram and one ram lamb (shall belong) to the priests; to the Levites], one [ra]m, one lamb; and to every [tribe, on]e [ram], one lamb for all the tri[bes], the [twe]lve tribes of Israel. They shall eat them [on that day, in the out]er [courtyard] before YHWH. ... [the priest]s shall drink there first and the Levites [second] ... the princes of the standards first ... [men of] renown. After them the whole people, from the great to the small, shall begin to drink the new wine. They [shall not e]a[t] any un[ri]pe grapes from the vines, for [on] this [da]y they shall expiate for the tirosh. The children of Israel shall rejoice before YHWH, an eternal [rule] for their generations wherever they dwell. They shall rejoice on [this] d[ay for they have begun] to pour out an intoxicating drink-offering, the new wine, on the altar of YHWH, year by year. [You sha]ll count from that day seven weeks, seven times (seven days), forty-nine days; there shall be seven full Sabbaths; until the morrow of the seventh Sabbath you shall count fifty days. You shall then offer new oil from the homes of [the tr]ibes of the ch[ildren of Is]rael, half

10a hin from a tribe, new beaten oil ... oil on the altar of the holocaust, firstfruits before YHWH. XXII ... [shall expi]ate with it for all the congregation before [YHWH] ... with this oil, half a hin ... [according to the st]atute, a holocaust, an offering by fire, of soothing [odour to YHWH] ... [With] this oil they shall light the lamps ... the princes of the Thousands with ... fourteen [yearling] m[ale lamb]s and the corresponding grain-offering and drink-offering ... [for the lambs and] the rams. The Levites shall slaughter ... [and] the priests, the sons of Aaron, [shall spri]nkle their blood [on the altar all around] ... [and] they shall burn their fat on the altar of the [holocaust] ... [and the corresponding grain-offering] and drink-offering, they shall burn over the fats ... [an offering by fire, of soothing odour to] YHWH. They shall take away fr[om] ... the right thigh and the breast ... the cheeks and the stomach shall be the priests' portion according to the statute concerning them. (They shall give) to the Levites the shoulder. Afterwards they shall bring them (the offerings) out to the children of Israel, and the children of Israel shall give the prie[st]s one ram, one lamb, and to the Levites, one ram, one lamb, and to each tribe, one ram, one lamb. They shall eat them on that day in the outer courtyard before YHWH, an eternal rule for their generations, year by year. Afterwards they shall eat from the olives and anoint themselves with the new oil, for on this day they shall expiate for [al]l [the o]il of the land before YHWH once yearly. They shall rejoice XXIII ... The High Priest shall offer the [holocaust of the Levites] first, and afterwards he shall send up in smoke the holocaust of the tribe of Judah, and w[hen he] is sending it up in smoke, they shall slaughter before him the he-goat first and he shall lift up its blood in a bowl to the altar and with his finger he shall pu[t some] of the blood to the four horns of the alta[r] of the holocaust and to the four corners of the altar ledge, and shall toss the blood towards the bas[e] of the altar ledge all around. He shall burn its fat on the altar, the fat covering the entrails and that over the entrails. The appendage of the liver with the kidneys he shall remove as well as the fat over them and on the loins. He shall send up in smoke all of them on the altar together with the corresponding grain-offering and drink-offering, an offering by fire of soothing odour to YHWH. And XXIV ... the flesh, of [soothing] odour; it

11shall be [an offering by fire to YHWH. Thus they must do to every] young bull, and to every ram and to [every lamb] and its limbs (?) shall remain apart. The corresponding [grain-offering] and drink-offering shall be on it, an [eternal] rule for your generations before YHWH. After this holocaust he shall offer the holocaust of the tribe of Judah separately. As he has done with the holocaust of the Levites, so shall he do with the holocaust of the children of Judah after the Levites. On the second day he shall first offer the holocaust of Benjamin and after it he shall offer the holocaust of the children of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh together. On the third day, he shall offer the holocaust of Reuben separately, and the holocaust of Simeon separately. On the fourth day he shall offer the holocaust of Issachar separately and the holocaust of Zebulun separately. On the fifth day he shall offer the holocaust of Gad separately and the holocaust of Asher separately. On the sixth day XXV [he shall offer the holocaust of Dan separately and the holocaust of Naphtali separately] ... In the [seventh] m[onth, on the first day of the month, you shall have] a sacred rest, a remembrance announced by a trumpet blast, a [holy] ga[thering. You shall offer a holocaust, an offering by fire, of soothing odour be]fore YHWH. You shall o[ffer on]e [young bull,] one ram, seve[n] ye[ar]ling [lamb]s [without blemish and one he-goat for a sin- offering, and] the corresponding grain-offering and drink-offering according to the statute concerning the[m, of soothing odour to YHWH, in addition to] the perpetual [holocaus]t [and the holo]caust of the new moon. Afterwards [you shall offer] this [holocaust] at the third part of the day, an eternal rule for your generation[s wherever you dwell.] You shall rejoice on this day. On it you shall do no work. A sacred rest shall this day be for you. The tenth of this month is the Day of Atonement. You shall mortify yourselves. For any person who does not mortify himself on this selfsame day shall be cut off from his people. You shall offer on it a holocaust to YHWH: one young bull, one ram, seven ram lambs, one he-goat for a sin-offering, in addition to the sin-offering of the atonement and the corresponding grain-offering and drink-offering according to the statute concerning the young bull, the ram, the lambs and the he-goat. For the sin-offering of the atonement you shall offer

12two rams for holocaust. The High Priest shall offer one for himself and his father's house XXVI ... [The High Prie]st [shall cast lots on the two goats,] o[ne] lot for YHWH and one for Azazel. He shall slaughter the goat [on] which [YHWH's lot has fallen and shall lift up] its blood in a golden bowl which is in [his ha]nd, [and do] with its blo[od as he has done with the blood of] his young bull and shall expiate with it for all the people of the assembly. He shall send up in smoke its fat and the corresponding grain-and drink-offering on the altar of the holocaust. Its flesh, skin and dung they shall burn beside his young bull. It is a sin- offering for the whole assembly. He shall expiate with it for all the people of the assembly and it shall be forgiven to them. He shall wash his hands and feet of the blood of the sin-offering and shall come to the living goat and shall confess over its head the iniquities of the children of Israel together with all their guilt, all their sins. He shall put them on the head of the goat and despatch it to Azazel in the desert by the hand of the man who is waiting ready. The goat shall bear all the iniquities of (the children of Israel). XXVII ... [and he shall expiate] for all the children of Israel and it shall be forgiven to them ... Afterwards he shall offer the young bull, the r[a]m, and [the lambs, according to] the [sta]tute relating to them, on the altar of the holocaust, and the [ho]locaust will be accepted for the children of Israel, an eternal rule for their generations. Once a year this day shall be for them a memorial. They shall do no work on it, for it shall be [to] them a Sabbath of sacred rest. Whoever shall do work on it or shall not mortify himself on it, shall be cut off from the midst of his people. A Sabbath of sacred rest, a holy gathering shall this day be for you. You shall sanctify it as a memorial wherever you dwell and you shall do no work. On the fifteenth day of this month XXVIII ... [the corresponding] grain- offering [and drink-offering, all on] the altar, an offering by fire, of s[oothing odour to YHWH. On] the second [day:] twelve young bulls, [two rams, four]teen [lambs] and one he-goat [for a sin-offerin]g [and the corresponding gr]ai[n-offering and drink-offering] according to the statute concerning the young bulls, the ram[s], the lambs [and] the he- goat; it is an offering by fire, of soothing odour to YHWH. On the third day eleven young bulls, two rams, fourteen lambs and one he-goat for a sin-offering and the corresponding grain-offering and

13drink-offering according to the statute concerning the young bulls, the rams, the lambs and the he-goat. On the fo[ur]th day ten young bulls, two rams, fourteen yearling ram lambs and one he-goat for a sin-offering and the corresponding grain- offering and drink-offering for the young bulls, XXIX [the rams, the lambs and the he-goat ... On the fifth day ... and the corresponding grain-offering] and drink-offer[ing] ... in the house on which I [shall cause] my name to rest ... holocausts, [each on its] day according to the law of this statute, always from the children of Israel in addition to their freewillofferings in regard to all that they offer, their drink-offerings and all their gifts that they shall bring to me in order to be acceptable. I shall accept them and they shall be my people and I shall be for them for ever. I will dwell with them for ever and ever and will sanctify my [sa]nctuary by my glory. I will cause my glory to rest on it until the day of creation on which I shall create my sanctuary, establishing it for myself for all time according to the covenant which I have made with Jacob in Bethel. XXX ... You shall make ... for stairs, a stair[case] ... in the house which you shall build ... You [shall make] a staircase north of the Temple, a square house, twenty cubits from one corner to the other alongside its four corners. Its distance from the wall of the Temple shall be seven cubits on the north-west. You shall make the width of its wall four cubits ... like the Temple and its inside from corner to corner twelv[e cubits.] (There shall be) a square column in its middle, in the centre; its width four cubits on each side around which the stairs wind ... XXXI In the upper chamber of [this] ho[use you shall make a ga]te opening to the roof of the Temple and a way (shall be) made through this gate towards the entrance ... of the Temple by which one can reach the upper chamber of the Temple. Overlay with gold [a]ll this stairhouse, its walls, its gates and its roof, from inside [and from] outside, its column and its stairs. [You] shall do everything as I tell you. You shall make a square house for the laver in the south-east, on all its sides, (each) twenty-one cubits; fifty cubits distant from the altar. The width of the wall shall be four cubits, and the height [t]wenty cubits ... Make gates for it on the east, on the north and on the west. The width of the gates shall be four cubits and the height seven XXXII ... You shall

14make in the wall of this house, on the inside, recesses, and in them ... one cubit (in) width and their height four cubits above the ground. They shall be overlaid with gold on which they shall place their clothes which they have worn on arrival. Above the house of the ... when they come to minister in the sanctuary. You shall make a trench around the laver beside its house and the trench shall go [from the house of] the laver to a cavity. It shall descend [rapid]ly to the ground where the water shall flow and disappear. It shall not be touched by any man for it is mingled with the blood of the holocaust. XXXIII They shall sanctify my people in the sacred vestments which ... You shall make a house east of the house of the [l]av[er] according to the measurement of [the house of the bas]in. Its wall shall be at a distance of seven cubits from the wall of the house of the laver. Its whole building and rafters shall be like (those of) the house of the laver. It shall have two gates on the north and the south, one opposite the other, according to the measurement of the gates of the house of the laver. Inside all the walls of this house shall have apertures, their width (and depth) two cubits each and their height four (?) with which the entrails and the feet are raised to the altar. When they have completed the sending up in smoke XXXIV ... They close the wheels and ... and tie the horns of the young bulls to the rings and ... by the rings. Afterwards they shall slaughter them and collect [the blood] in bowls and toss it around the altar base. They shall open the wheels and strip the skin of the young bulls from their flesh and cut them up into pieces, salt the pieces, wash the entrails and the legs, salt them and send them up in smoke on the fire which is on the altar, each young bull with its pieces beside it and the corresponding grain-offering of fine flour on it, the wine of the drink-offering beside it and some of it on it. The priests, the sons of Aaron, shall send everything up in smoke on the altar, an offering by fire, of soothing odour before YHWH. You shall make chains hanging from the rafters of the twelve columns XXXV ... whoever is not a priest shall die, and whoever ... [a prie]st who shall come ... and he is not clothed in the [holy] vest[ments in which] he was ordained, they too shall be put to death and shall not pro[fane the san]ctuary of their God, thus incurring the iniquity of mortal guilt. You shall sanctify the environs of the altar, the Temple, the laver and the

15colonnade and they shall be most holy for ever and ever. You shall make a place west of the Temple, a colonnade of pillars standing around for the sin-offerings and the guilt-offerings, divided from one another, the sin-offerings of the priests, the he-goats, and the sin-offerings of the people and their guilt-offerings. None of these shall be mingled one with another, for their places shall be divided from one another in order that the priests may not err concerning all the sin- offerings of the people, and all the rams (?) of the guilt-offerings, (thus) incurring the sin of guilt. The birds for the altar: he shall prepare turtledoves XXXVI ... from the corner of ... [to the corne]r of the gat[e, one hundred and twenty cubits.] The gate (shall be) forty [cubits] wide. Each side shall be [according to this measurement. The wid]th of [its wa]ll shall be seven cubits, [and] its [height forty]-five [cubits to the raft]ers of [its] roof. The width of its ch[ambers] (shall be) twenty-six cubits from corner to corner. The gates of entrance and exit: the gate shall be fourteen cubits wide and [tw]enty-eight cubits high from the threshold to the lintel. The height of the rafters above the lintel shall be fourteen cubits. (The gate shall be) roofed with a panelling of cedar wood overlaid with pure gold. Its doors shall be overlaid with fine gold. From the corner of the gate to the second angle of the courtyard, (there shall be) one hundred and twenty cubits. Thus shall be the measurement of all these gates of the inner courtyard. The gates shall lead inside into the courtyard. XXXVII You shall make [in]side the court[yard] seats for the priests, and tables in front of the seats, in the inner colonnade by the outer wall of the courtyard, places made for the priests and their sacrifices, for the firstfruits and the tithes, for their peace-offering sacrifices which they shall sacrifice. The sacrifices of the peace-offerings of the children of Israel shall not be mingled with the sacrifices of the priests. In the four corners of the courtyard you shall make for them a place for cooking-stoves where they shall seethe their sacrifices [and] sin- offerings. XXXVIII ... There they shall eat ... the bird, the turtle-dove and the young pigeons ... You shall make a second [co]urtyard aro[u]nd [the in]ner [courtyard], one hundred cubits wide, and four hundred and eighty cubits long on

16the east side, and thus shall be the width and length of all its sides: to the south, to the west and to the north. Its wall shall be [fo]ur cubits wide and twenty-eight cubits high. Chambers shall be made in the wall outside and between each chamber there shall be three-[and-a-half cubits] XXXIX ... that all the congregation of the children of Israel may bow down before me ... No woman shall come there, nor a child until the day that he has fulfilled the rule ... [and has paid for] himself [a ransom] to YHWH, half a shekel, an eternal rule, a memorial wherever they dwell. The shekel (consists of) twenty gerahs. When they shall collect from him the half-shekel... to me. Afterwards they shall enter from the age of twenty ... The na[mes of the g]ates of this [co]urtyard sha[ll b]e according to the nam[es of] the children of Is[ra]el: Simeon, Levi and Judah in the east; Reuben, Joseph and Benjamin in the south; Issachar, Zebulun and Gad in the west; Dan, Naphtali and Asher in the north. Between each gate the measurement (shall be): from the north-eastern corner to the gate of Simeon, ninety- nine cubits, and the gate twenty-eight cubits. From this gate of Simeon to the gate of Levi, ninety-nine cubits, and the gate, twenty-eight cubits. From the gate of Levi to the gate of Judah XL ... You shall make a third courtyard ... to their daughters and to the strangers who [were] born ... [wi]de around the middle courtyard ... in length about one thousand six [hundred] cubits from one corner to the next. Each side shall be according to this measurement: on the east, the south, the west and the no[rt]h. The wall shall be seven cubits wide and forty-nine cubits high. Chambers shall be made between its gates along the foundation as far up as its 'crowns' (= crenellations: Yadin). There shall be three gates in the east, three in the south, three in the west and three in the north. The gates shall be fifty cubits wide and their height seventy cubits. Between one gate and another there shall be three hundred and sixty cubits. From the corner to the gate of Simeon, three hundred and sixty cubits. From the gate of Simeon to the gate of Levi, likewise. From the gate of Levi to the gate of Judah, likewise three [hundred and] sixty (cubits). XLI ... From the gate of Issachar [to the gate of Zebulun, three] hundred [and sixty] cubits. From the gate of Zebulun to the gate of Gad, three hundred and sixty cubits. From the ga[te of] Gad to the northern corner, three hundred and sixty cubits. From this corner

17to the gate of Dan: three hundred and sixty cubits. Thus from the gate of Dan to the gate of Naphtali, three hundred and sixty cubits. From the gate of Naphtali to the gate of Asher, three hundred and sixty cubits. From the gate of Asher to the eastern corner, three hundred and sixty cubits. The gates shall jut outwards from the wall of the courtyard seven cubits, and extend inwards from the wall to the courtyard thirty-six cubits. The entrance of the gate shall be fourteen cubits wide and twenty-eight cubits high up to the lintel. The rafters at the doorways (?) shall be of cedar wood and overlaid with gold. The doors shall be overlaid with pure gold. Between each gate inwards you shall make storehouses, XLII [rooms and colonnades.] The room shall be ten cubits wide, twenty cubits long, and four[teen] cubits high ... with cedar wood. The wall shall be two cubits wide. On the outside there shall be storehouses. [The storehouse shall be ten cubits wide and] twenty cubits [long]. The wall shall be two cubits wide [and fourteen cubits high] up to the lintel. Its entrance shall be three cubits wide. [You shall make in this way] all the storehouses and the [corresponding] rooms. The colon[nade] ... shall be ten cubits [wi]de. Between each gate [you shall make eight]een storehouses and the corresponding eight[een] rooms ... You shall make a staircase next to the walls of the gates towards the colonnade. Winding stairs shall go up to the second and third colonnades and to the roof. You shall build storehouses and corresponding rooms and colonnades as on the ground floor. The second and the third (levels) shall follow the measurement of the lower one. On the roof of the third you shall make pillars roofed with rafters from one pillar to the next (providing) a place for tabernacles. The (pillars) shall be eight cubits high and the tabernacles shall be made on their (roof) each year at the feast of the Tabernacles for the elders of the congregation, for the princes, the heads of the fathers' houses of the children of Israel, the captains of the thousands, the captains of the hundreds, who will ascend and dwell there until the sacrificing of the holocaust on the festival which is the feast of the Tabernacles, each year. Between each gate there shall be XLIII ... on the days of the firstfruits of the corn, of the w[ine (tirosh) and the oil, and at the festival of the offering of] wood. On these days (the tithe) shall be eaten. They

18shall not put aside anything from it from one year to another. For they shall eat it in this manner. From the feast of the Firstfruits of the corn of wheat they shall eat the corn until the next year, until the feast of the Firstfruits, and (they shall drink) the wine from the day of the festival of Wine until the next year, until the day of the festival of the Wine, and (they shall eat) the oil from its festival, until the next year, until the festival, the day of offering the new oil on the altar. Whatever is left (to last beyond) their festivals shall be sanctified by being burnt with fire. It shall no longer be eaten for it is holy. Those who live within a distance of three days' walk from the sanctuary shall bring whatever they can bring. If they cannot carry it, they shall sell it for money and buy with it corn, wine, oil, cattle and sheep, and shall eat them on the days of the festivals. On working days they shall not eat from this in their weariness for it is holy. On the holy days it shall be eaten, but it shall not be eaten on working days. XLIV ... You shall allot [the rooms and the corresponding chambers. From the gate of Simeo]n to the gate of Judah shall be for the priests ... All that is to the right and to the left of the gate of Levi, you shall allo[t] to Aaron, your brother, one hundred and eight rooms and corresponding chambers and two tabernacles which are on the roof. (You shall allot) to the sons of Judah (the area) from the gate of Judah to the corner: fifty-four rooms and corresponding chambers and the tabernacle that is over them. (You shall allot) to the sons of Simeon (the area) from the gate of Simeon to the second corner: their rooms, the corresponding chambers and tabernacles. (You shall allot) to the sons of Reuben (the area) from the corner which is beside the sons of Judah to the gate of Reuben: fifty-two rooms and the corresponding chambers and tabernacles. (The area) from the gate of Reuben to the gate of Joseph (you shall allot) to the sons of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh. (The area) from the gate of Joseph to the gate of Benjamin (you shall allot) to the sons of Kohath from the Levites. (The area) from the gate of Benjamin to the western corner (you shall allot) to the sons of Benjamin. (The area) from this corner to the gate of Issachar (you shall allot) to the sons of Issachar. (The area) from the gate (of Issachar) XLV... the second (= incoming) [priestly course] shall enter on the left ... and the first (= outgoing) shall leave on the right. They shall not

19mingle with one another nor their vessels. [Each] priestly course shall come to its place and they shall stay there. One shall arrive and the other leave on the eighth day. They shall clean the rooms, one after the other, when the first (priestly course) leaves. There shall be no mingling there. No man who has had a nocturnal emission shall enter the sanctuary at all until three days have elapsed. He shall wash his garments and bathe on the first day and on the third day he shall wash his garments and bathe, and after sunset he shall enter the sanctuary. They shall not enter my sanctuary in their impure uncleanness and render it unclean. No man who has had sexual intercourse with his wife shall enter anywhere into the city of the sanctuary where I cause my name to abide, for three days. No blind man shall enter it in all his days and shall not profane the city where I abide, for I, YHWH, abide amongst the children of Israel for ever and ever. Whoever is to purify himself of his flux shall count seven days for his purification. He shall wash his garments on the seventh day and bathe his whole body in running water. Afterwards he shall enter the city of the sanctuary. No one unclean through contact with a corpse shall enter there until he has purified himself. No leper nor any man smitten (in his body) shall enter there until he has purified himself and has offered ... XLVI ... [No] unclean bird shall fly over [my] sanctua[ry] ... the roofs of the gates ... the outer courtyard ... be in my sanctuary for ever and ever all the time that I [abide] among them. You shall make a terrace round about, outside the outer courtyard, fourteen cubits wide like the entrances of all the gates. You shall make twelve steps (leading) to it by which the children of Israel shall ascend there to enter my sanctuary. You shall make a one-hundred-cubits-wide ditch around the sanctuary which shall divide the holy sanctuary from the city so that no one can rush into my sanctuary and defile it. They shall sanctify my sanctuary and hold it in awe because I abide among them. You shall make for them latrines outside the city where they shall go out, north-west of the city. These shall be roofed houses with holes in them into which the filth shall go down. It shall be far enough not to be visible from the city, (at) three thousand cubits.

20You shall make three areas to the east of the city, divided from one another, where the lepers, those suffering from a flux and men who have had a (nocturnal) emission XLVII ... Their cities [shall be] pure ... for ever. The city which I will sanctify, causing my name and [my] sanctuar[y] to abide [in it], shall be holy and pure of all impurity with which they can become impure. Whatever is in it shall be pure. Whatever enters it shall be pure: wine, oil, all food and all moistened (food) shall be clean. No skin of clean animals slaughtered in their cities shall be brought there (to the city of the sanctuary). But in their cities they may use them for any work they need. But they shall not bring them to the city of my sanctuary, for the purity of the skin corresponds to that of the flesh. You shall not profane the city where I cause my name and my sanctuary to abide. For it is in the skins (of animals) slaughtered in the sanctuary that they shall bring their wine and oil and all their food to the city of my sanctuary. They shall not pollute my sanctuary with the skins of animals slaughtered in their country which are tainted (= unfit for the Temple). You cannot render any city among your cities as pure as my city, for the purity of the skin of the animal corresponds to the purity of its flesh. If you slaughter it in my sanctuary, it shall be pure for my sanctuary, but if you slaughter it in your cities, it shall be pure (only) for your cities. Whatever is pure for the sanctuary, shall be brought in skins (fit) for the sanctuary, and you shall not profane my sanctuary and my city where I abide with tainted skins. XLVIII ... [the cormorant, the stork, every ki]nd of [heron,] the hoop[oe and the bat] ... You may eat [the following] flying [insects]: every kind of great locust, every kind of long-headed locust, every kind of green locust, and every kind of desert locust. These are among the flying insects which you may eat: those which walk on four legs and have legs jointed above their feet to leap with them on the ground and wings to fly with. You shall not eat the carcass of any bird or beast but may sell it to a foreigner. You shall not eat any abominable thing, for you are a holy people to YHWH, your God. You are the sons of YHWH, your God. You shall not gash yourselves or shave your forelocks in mourning for the dead, nor shall you tattoo

21yourselves, for you are a holy people to YHWH, your God. You shall not profane your land. You shall not do as the nations do; they bury their dead everywhere, they bury them even in their houses. Rather you shall set apart areas in the midst of your land where you shall bury your dead. Between four cities you shall designate an area for burial. In every city you shall set aside areas for those stricken with leprosy, with plague and with scab, who shall not enter your cities and profane them, and also for those who suffer from a flux; and for menstruating women, and women after childbirth, so that they may not cause defilement in their midst by their impure uncleanness. The leper suffering from chronic leprosy or scab, who has been pronounced unclean by the priest XLIX ... with cedar wood, hyssop and ... your cities with the plague of leprosy and they shall be unclean. If a man dies in your cities, the house in which the dead man has died shall be unclean for seven days. Whatever is in the house and whoever enters the house shall be unclean for seven days. Any food on which water has been poured shall be unclean, anything moistened shall be unclean. Earthenware vessels shall be unclean and whatever they contain shall be unclean for every clean man. The open (vessels) shall be unclean for every Israelite (with) whatever is moistened in them. On the day when the body is removed from there, they shall cleanse the house of all pollution of oil, wine and water moisture. They shall rub its (the house's) floor, walls and doors and shall wash with water the bolts, doorposts, thresholds and lintels. On the day when the body is removed from there, they shall purify the house and all its utensils, hand-mills and mortars, all utensils of wood, iron and bronze and all utensils capable of purification. Clothes, sacks and skins shall be washed. As for the people, whoever has been in the house or has entered the house shall bathe in water and shall wash his clothes on the first day. On the third day they shall sprinkle purifying water on them and shall bathe. They shall wash their garments and all the utensils in the house. On the seventh day they shall sprinkle (them) a second time. They shall bathe, wash their clothes and utensils and shall be clean by the

22evening of (the impurity contracted) from the dead so as to (be fit to) touch their pure things. As for a man who has not been rendered unclean on account of L ... they have been unclean. No longer ... until they have sprinkled (them) the second [time] on the seventh day and shall be clean by the evening at sunset. Whoever touches the bone of a dead person in the fields, or one slain by the sword, or a dead body or the blood of a dead person, or a tomb, he shall purify himself according to the rule of this statute. But if he does not purify himself according to the statute of this law, he is unclean, his uncleanness being still in him. Whoever touches him must wash his clothes, bathe and he shall be clean by the evening. If a woman is with child and it dies in her womb, as long as it is dead in her, she shall be unclean like a tomb. Any house that she enters shall be unclean with all its utensils for seven days. Whoever touches it shall be unclean till the evening. If anyone enters the house with her, he shall be unclean for seven days. He shall wash his clothes and bathe in water on the first (day). On the third day he shall sprinkle and wash his clothes and bathe. On the seventh day he shall sprinkle a second time and wash his clothes and bathe. At sunset he shall be clean. As for all the utensils, clothes, skins and all the materials made of goat's hair, you shall deal with them according to the statute of this law. All earthenware vessels shall be broken for they are unclean and can no more be purified ever. All creatures that teem on the ground you shall proclaim unclean: the weasel, the mouse, every kind of lizard, the wall gecko, the sand gecko, the great lizard and the chameleon. Whoever touches them dead LI ... [and whatever com]es out of the[m] ... [shall be] unclean [to you.] You shall [not] render yourselves unclean by th[em. Whoever touches them] dead shall be unclean un[til the] evening. He shall wash his clothes and bathe [in water and at] sun[set] he shall be clean. Whoever carries any of their bones, their carcass, skin, flesh or claw shall wash his clothes and bathe in water. After sunset he shall be clean. You shall forewarn the children of Israel about all the impurities. They shall not render themselves unclean by those of which I tell you on this mountain and they shall not be unclean. For I, YHWH, abide among the children of Israel. You shall sanctify

23them and they shall be holy. They shall not render themselves abominable by anything that I have separated for them as unclean and they shall be holy. You shall establish judges and officers in all your towns and they shall judge the people with just judgement. They shall not be partial in (their) judgement. They shall not accept bribes, nor shall they twist judgement, for the bribe twists judgement, overturns the works of justice, blinds the eyes of the wise, produces great guilt, and profanes the house by the iniquity of sin. Justice and justice alone shall you pursue that you may live and come to inherit the land that I give you to inherit for all days. The man who accepts bribes and twists just judgement shall be put to death. You shall not be afraid to execute him. You shall not do in your land as the nations do. Everywhere they sacrifice, plant sacred trees, erect sacred pillars and set up carved stones to bow down before them and build for them LII ... You shall not plant [any tree as a sacred tree beside my altar to be made by you.] You shall not erect a sacred pillar [that is hateful to me.] You shall not make anywhere in your land a carved stone to bow down before it. You shall not sacrifice to me any cattle or sheep with a grave blemish, for they are abominable to me. You shall not sacrifice to me any cattle or sheep or goat that is pregnant, for this would be an abomination to me. You shall not slaughter a cow or a ewe and its young on the same day, neither shall you kill a mother with her young. Of all the firstlings born to your cattle or sheep, you shall sanctify for me the male animals. You shall not use the firstling of your cattle for work, nor shall you shear the firstling of your small cattle. You shall eat it before me every year in the place that I shall choose. Should it be blemished, being lame or blind or (afflicted with) any grave blemish, you shall not sacrifice it to me. It is within your towns that you shall eat it. The unclean and the clean among you together (may eat it) like a gazelle or a deer. It is the blood alone that you shall not eat. You shall spill it on the ground like water and cover it with dust. You shall not muzzle an ox while it is threshing. You shall not plough with an ox and an ass (harnessed) together. You shall not slaughter clean cattle or sheep or goat in any of your towns, within a distance of three days' journey from my sanctuary. It is rather in my sanctuary that you shall

24slaughter it, making of it a holocaust or peace-offering. You shall eat and rejoice before me in the place on which I choose to set my name. Every clean animal with a blemish, you shall eat it within your towns, away from my sanctuary at a distance of thirty stadia. You shall not slaughter it close to my sanctuary for its flesh is tainted. You shall not eat in my city, which I sanctify by placing my name in it, the flesh of cattle, sheep or goat which has not entered my sanctuary. They shall sacrifice it there, toss its blood to the base of the altar of holocaust and shall burn its fat. LIII [When I extend your frontiers as I have told you, and if the place where I have chosen to set my name is too distan]t, and you say, 'I will eat meat', because you [l]ong for it, [whatever you desire,] you may eat, [and you may slau]gh[ter] any of your small cattle or cattle which I give you according to my blessing. You may eat it within your towns, the clean and the unclean together, like gazelle or deer (meat). But you shall firmly abstain from eating the blood. You shall spill it on the ground like water and cover it with dust. For the blood is the life and you shall not eat the life with the flesh so that it may be well with you and with your sons after you for ever. You shall do that which is correct and good before me, for I am YHWH, your God. But all your devoted gifts and votive donations you shall bring when you come to the place where I cause my name to abide, and you shall sacrifice (them) there before me as you have devoted and vowed them with your mouth. When you make a vow, you shall not tarry in fulfilling it, for surely I will require it of you and you shall become guilty of a sin. You shall keep the word uttered by your lips, for your mouth has vowed freely to perform your vow. When a man makes a vow to me or swears an oath to take upon himself a binding obligation, he must not break his word. Whatever has been uttered by his mouth, he shall do it. When a woman makes a vow to me, or takes upon herself a binding obligation by means of an oath in her father's house, in her youth, if her father hears of her vow or the binding obligation which she has taken upon herself and remains silent, all her vows shall stand, and her binding obligation which she has taken upon herself shall stand. If, however, her father definitely forbids her on the day that he hears of it, none of her vows or binding obligations which she has taken upon

25herself shall stand, and I will absolve her because (her father) has forbidden her LIV [when he] h[eard of them. But if he annuls them after] the da[y that he has] hea[rd of them, he shall bear] her guilt: [her] fa[ther has annulled them. Any vow] or binding oath (made by a woman) [to mortify herself,] her husband may confi[rm it] or annul it on the day that he hears of it, and I will absolve her. But any vow of a widow or a divorced woman, whatever she has taken upon herself shall stand in conformity with all that her mouth has uttered. Everything that I command you today, see to it that it is kept. You shall not add to it, nor detract from it. If a prophet or a dreamer appears among you and presents you with a sign or a portent, even if the sign or the portent comes true, when he says, 'Let us go and worship other gods whom you have not known!', do not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer, for I am testing you to discover whether you love YHWH, the God of your fathers, with all your heart and soul. It is YHWH, your God, that you must follow and serve, and it is him that you must fear and his voice that you must obey, and you must hold fast to him. That prophet or dreamer shall be put to death for he has preached rebellion against YHWH, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to lead you astray from the path that I have commanded you to follow. You shall rid yourself of this evil. If your brother, the son of your father or the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is like your own self, (seeks to) entice you secretly, saying, 'Let us go and worship other gods whom you have not known', neither you, LV [nor] your [fa]thers, some of the gods [of the peoples that are round about you, whether near you or far off from you], from the one end of the earth to [the other, you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity] him, nor shall you spare [him, nor shall you conceal him; but you shall kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. You shall stone him to death with stones because he sought to] draw you away [from me who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and never again do such an evil

26thing] among you. If in on[e of your cities in which I] give you to dw[ell] you hear this said: 'Men, [s]ons of [Beli]al have arisen in your midst and have led astray all the inhabitants of their city saying, "Let us go and worship gods whom you have not known!",' you shall inquire, search and investigate carefully. If the matter is proven true that such an abomination has been done in Israel, you shall surely put all the inhabitants of that city to the sword. You shall place it and all who are in it under the ban, and you shall put the beasts to the sword. You shall assemble all the booty in (the city) square and shall burn it with fire, the city and all the booty, as a whole-offering to YHWH, your God. It shall be a ruin for ever and shall never be rebuilt. Nothing from that which has been placed under the ban shall cleave to your hand so that I may turn from my hot anger and show you compassion. I will be compassionate to you and multiply you as I told your fathers, provided that you obey my voice, keeping all my commandments that I command you today, to do that which is correct and good before YHWH, your God. If among you, in one of your towns that I give you, there is found a man or a woman who does that which is wrong in my eyes by transgressing my covenant, and goes and worships other gods, and bows down before them, or before the sun or the moon, or all the host of heaven, if you are told about it, and you hear about this matter, you shall search and investigate it carefully. If the matter is proven true that such an abomination has been done in Israel, you shall lead out that man or that woman and stone him (to death) with stones. LVI... [You shall go to the Levitical priests o]r to the [j]u[dges then in office]; you shall seek their guidance and [they] shall pro[nounce on] the matter for which [you have sought their guidance, and they shall procl]aim the(ir) judgement to you. You shall act in conformity with the law that they proclaim to you and the saying that they declare to you from the book of the Law. They shall issue to you a proclamation in truth from the place where I choose to cause my name to abide. Be careful to do all that they teach you and act in conformity with the decision that they communicate to you. Do not stray from the law which they proclaim to you to the right or to the left. The man who does not listen but acts arrogantly without obeying the priest who is posted there

27to minister before me, or the judge, that man shall die. You shall rid Israel of evil. All the people shall hear of it and shall be awe-stricken, and none shall ever again be arrogant in Israel. When you enter the land which I give you, take possession of it, dwell in it and say, 'I will appoint a king over me as do all the nations around me!', you may surely appoint over you the king whom I will choose. It is from among your brothers that you shall appoint a king over you. You shall not appoint over you a foreigner who is not your brother. He (the king) shall definitely not acquire many horses, neither shall he lead the people back to Egypt for war to acquire many horses and much silver and gold, for I told you, 'You shall never again go back that way'. He shall not acquire many wives that they may not turn his heart away from me. He shall not acquire very much silver and gold. When he sits on the throne of his kingdom, they shall write for him this law from the book which is before the priests. LVII This is the law [that they shall write for him] ... [They shall count,] on the day that they appoint hi[m] king, the sons of Israel from the age of twenty to sixty years according to their standard (units). He shall install at their head captains of thousands, captains of hundreds, captains of fifties and captains of tens in all their cities. He shall select from among them one thousand by tribe to be with him: twelve thousand warriors who shall not leave him alone to be captured by the nations. All the selected men whom he has selected shall be men of truth, God-fearers, haters of unjust gain and mighty warriors. They shall be with him always, day and night. They shall guard him from anything sinful, and from any foreign nation in order not to be captured by them. The twelve princes of his people shall be with him, and twelve from among the priests, and from among the Levites twelve. They shall sit together with him to (proclaim) judgement and the law so that his heart shall not be lifted above them, and he shall do nothing without them concerning any affair. He shall not marry as wife any daughter of the nations, but shall take a wife for himself from his father's house, from his father's family. He shall not take another wife in addition to her, for she alone shall be with him all the time of her life. But if she dies, he may marry another from his father's house, from his family. He shall not twist judgement; he shall take no bribe to twist a just judgement and shall not covet a field

28or a vineyard, any riches or house, or anything desirable in Israel. He shall (not) rob LVIII ... When the king hears of any nation or people intent on plundering whatever belongs to Israel, he shall send for the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds posted in the cities of Israel. They shall send with him (the captain) one tenth of the people to go with him (the king) to war against their enemies, and they shall go with him. But if a large force enters the land of Israel, they shall send with him one fifth of the warriors. If a king with chariots and horses and a large force (comes), they shall send with him one third of the warriors, and the two (remaining) divisions shall guard their city and their boundaries so that no marauders invade their land. If the war presses him (the king) hard, they shall send to him half of the people, the men of the army, but the (other) half of the people shall not be severed from their cities. If they triumph over their enemies, smash them, put them to the sword and carry away their booty, they shall give the king his tithe of this, the priests one thousandth and the Levites one hundredth from everything. They shall halve the rest between the combatants and their brothers whom they have left in their cities. If he (the king) goes to war against his enemies, one fifth of the people shall go with him, the warriors, all the mighty men of valour. They shall avoid everything unclean, everything shameful, every iniquity and guilt. He shall not go until he has presented himself before the High Priest who shall inquire on his behalf for a decision by the Urim and Tummim. It is at his word that he shall go and at his word that he shall come, he and all the children of Israel who are with him. He shall not go following his heart's counsel until he (the High Priest) has inquired for a decision by the Urim and Tummim. He shall (then) succeed in all his ways on which he has set out according to the decision which LIX ... and they shall disperse them in many lands and they shall become a h[orror], a byword, a mockery. With a heavy yoke and in extreme want, they shall there serve gods made by human hands, of wood and stone, silver and gold. During this time their cities shall become a devastation, a laughing-stock and a wasteland, and their enemies shall devastate them. They shall sigh in the lands of their enemies and scream because of the heavy yoke. They shall cry out but

29I will not listen; they shall scream but I will not answer them because of their evil doings. I will hide my face from them and they shall become food, plunder and prey. None shall save them because of their wickedness, because they have broken my covenant and their soul has loathed my law until they have incurred every guilt. Afterwards they will return to me with all their heart and all their soul, in conformity with all the words of this law, and I will save them from the hand of their enemies and redeem them from the hand of those who hate them, and I will bring them to the land of their fathers. I will redeem them, and increase them and exult over them. I will be their God and they shall be my people. The king whose heart and eyes have gone astray from my commandments shall never have one to sit on the throne of his fathers, for I will cut off his posterity for ever so that it shall no more rule over Israel. But if he walk after my rules and keep my commandments and do that which is correct and good before me, no heir to the throne of the kingdom of Israel shall be cut off from among his sons for ever. I will be with him and will save him from the hand of those who hate him and from the hand of those who seek his life. I will place all his enemies before him and he shall rule over them according to his pleasure and they shall not rule over him. I will set him on an upward, not on a downward, course, to be the head and not the tail, that the days of his kingdom may be lengthened greatly for him and his sons after him. LX ... and all their wave-offerings. All their firstling male [bea]sts and all ... of their beasts and all their holy gifts which they shall sanctify to me together with all their holy gifts of praise and a proportion of their offering of birds, wild animals and fish, one thousandth of their catch, and all that they shall devote, and the proportion of the booty and the plunder. To the Levites shall belong the tithe of the corn, the wine and the oil that they have sanctified to me first; the shoulder from those who slaughter a sacrifice and a proportion of the booty, the plunder and the catch of birds, wild animals and fish, one hundredth; the tithe from the young pigeons and from the honey one fiftieth. To the priests shall belong one hundredth of the young pigeons, for I have chosen them from all your tribes to attend on me and minister (before me) and bless

30my name, he and his sons always. If a Levite come from any town anywhere in Israel where he sojourns to the place where I will choose to cause my name to abide, (if he come) with an eager soul, he may minister like his brethren the Levites who attend on me there. He shall have the same share of food with them, besides the inheritance from his father's family. When you enter the land which I give you, do not learn to practise the abominations of those nations. There shall be found among you none who makes his son or daughter pass through fire, nor an augur or a soothsayer, a diviner or a sorcerer, one who casts spells or a medium, or wizards or necromancers. For they are an abomination before me, all who practise such things, and it is because of these abominations that I drive them out before you. You shall be perfect towards YHWH, your God. For these nations that LXI ... to ut[ter a word] in [my] n[ame which I have n]ot comman[ded him to] utter, or wh[o speaks in the name of oth]er go[ds], that prophet shall be put to death. If you say in your heart, 'How shall we know the word which YHWH has not uttered?', when the word uttered by the prophet in the name of YHWH is not fulfilled and does not come true, that is not a word that I have uttered. The prophet has spoken arrogantly; do not fear him. A single witness may not come forward against a man in the matter of any iniquity or sin which he has committed. It is on the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses that a case can be established. If a malicious witness comes forward against a man to testify against him in a case of a crime, both disputants shall stand before me and before the priests and the Levites and before the judges then in office, and the judges shall inquire, and if the witness is a false witness who has testified falsely against his brother, you shall do to him as he proposed to do to his brother. You shall rid yourselves of evil. The rest shall hear of it and shall be awe-stricken and never again shall such a thing be done in your midst. You shall have no mercy on him: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. When you go to war against your enemies, and you see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, be not afraid of them, for I am with you who brought you out of the land of Egypt. When you approach the battle, the priest shall come forward to speak to the army and say

31to them, 'Hear, Israel, you approach ... ' ... LXII [and another man shall use its fruit. If any man has betrothed a woman but has not yet married her, he shall return] home. Otherwise he may die in the war and another man may take her. [The] of[ficers shall continue] to address the army and say, 'If any man is afraid and has lost heart, he shall go and return. Otherwise he may render his kinsmen as faint-hearted as himself.' When the judges have finished addressing the army, they shall appoint army captains at the head of the people. When you approach a city to fight it, (first) offer it peace. If it seeks peace and opens (its gates) to you, then all the people found in it shall become your forced labourers and shall serve you. If it does not make peace with you, but is ready to fight a war against you, you shall besiege it and I will deliver it into your hands. You shall put all its males to the sword, but the women, the children, the beasts and all that is in the city, all its booty, you may take as spoil for yourselves. You may enjoy the use of the booty of your enemies which I give you. Thus shall you treat the very distant cities, those which are not among the cities of these nations. But in the cities of the peoples which I give you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive any creature. Indeed you shall utterly exterminate the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, the Jebusites, the Girgashites and the Perizzites as I have commanded you, that they may not teach you to practise all the abominations that they have performed to their gods. LXIII ... [a heifer with which] he has not worked, which [has not drawn the yoke. The elders of] that city [shall bring down] the heifer to a ravine with an ever-flowing stream which has never been sown or cultivated, and there they shall break its neck. The priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for I have chosen them to minister before me and bless my name, and every dispute and every assault shall be decided by their word. All the elders of the city nearest to the body of the murdered man shall wash their hands over the head of the heifer whose neck has been broken in the ravine. They shall declare, 'Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it happen. Accept expiation for thy people Israel whom thou hast redeemed, O YHWH, and do not permit the guilt of innocent blood to

32rest among thy people, Israel. Let this blood be expiated for them.' You shall rid Israel (of the guilt) of innocent blood, and you shall do that which is correct and good before YHWH, your God. When you go to war against your enemies, and I deliver them into your hands, and you capture some of them, if you see among the captives a pretty woman and desire her, you may take her to be your wife. You shall bring her to your house, you shall shave her head, and cut her nails. You shall discard the clothes of her captivity and she shall dwell in your house, and bewail her father and mother for a full month. Afterwards you may go to her, consummate the marriage with her and she will be your wife. But she shall not touch whatever is pure for you for seven years, neither shall she eat of the sacrifice of peace-offering until seven years have elapsed. Afterwards she may eat. LXIV ... [the firstfruits of his virility; he has the right of the first-born.] If a man has a disobedient and rebellious son who refuses to listen to his father and mother, nor listens to them when they chastise him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his place. They shall say to the elders of his town, 'This son of ours is disobedient and rebellious; he does not listen to us; he is a glutton and a drunkard.' All the men of his city shall stone him with stones and he shall die, and you shall rid yourselves of evil. All the children of Israel shall hear of it and be awe-stricken. If a man slanders his people and delivers his people to a foreign nation and does evil to his people, you shall hang him on a tree and he shall die. On the testimony of two witnesses and on the testimony of three witnesses he shall be put to death and they shall hang him on the tree. If a man is guilty of a capital crime and flees (abroad) to the nations, and curses his people, the children of Israel, you shall hang him also on the tree, and he shall die. But his body shall not stay overnight on the tree. Indeed you shall bury him on the same day. For he who is hanged on the tree is accursed of God and men. You shall not pollute the ground which I give you to inherit. If you see your kinsman's ox or sheep or donkey straying, do not neglect them; you shall indeed return them to your kinsman. If your kinsman does not live near you, and you do not know who he is, you shall bring the animal to your house and it shall be with you until he claims (it). LXV ...

33[Wh]en a bird's nest happens to lie before you by the roadside, on any tree or on the ground, with fledglings or eggs, and the hen is sitting on the fledglings or the eggs, you shall not take the hen with the young. You shall surely let the hen escape and take only the young so that it may be well with you and your days shall be prolonged. When you build a new house, you shall construct a parapet on the roof so that you do not bring blood-guilt on your house if anyone should fall from it. When a man takes a wife, has sexual intercourse with her and takes a dislike to her, and brings a baseless charge against her, ruining her reputation, and says, 'I have taken this woman, approached her, and did not find the proof of virginity in her', the father or the mother of the girl shall take the girl's proof of virginity and bring it to the elders at the gate. The girl's father shall say to the elders, 'I gave my daughter to be this man's wife; he has taken a dislike to her and has brought a baseless charge against her saying, "I have not found the proof of virginity in your daughter." Here is the proof of my daughter's virginity.' They shall spread out the garment before the elders of that city. The elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him. They shall fine him one hundred pieces of silver which they shall give to the father of the girl, because he (the husband) has tried to ruin the reputation of an Israelite virgin. He shall not LXVI ... [When a virgin betrothed to a man is found by another man in the city and he lies with her, they shall bring both of them to the gate] of that city and stone them with stones and they shall be put to death: the girl because she has not shouted (for help, although she was) in the city, and the man because he has dishonoured his neighbour's wife. You shall rid yourselves of evil. If the man has found the woman in the fields in a distant place hidden from the city, and raped her, only he who has lain with her shall be put to death. To the girl they shall do nothing since she has committed no crime worthy of death. For this affair is like that of a man who attacks his neighbour and murders him. For it was in the fields that he found her and the betrothed girl shouted (for help), but none came to her rescue. When a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed, but is suitable to him according to the rule, and lies with her, and he is found out, he who has lain with her shall give the girl's father fifty pieces of silver and she

34shall be his wife. Because he has dishonoured her, he may not divorce her all his days. A man shall not take his father's wife and shall not lift his father's skirt. A man shall not take the wife of his brother and shall not lift the skirt of his brother, the son of his father or the son of his mother, for this is unclean. A man shall not take his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother, for this is abominable. A man shall not take his father's sister or his mother's sister, for this is immoral. A man shall not take the daughter of his brother or the daughter of his sister for this is abominable. (A man) shall not take LXVII ...

35MMT (Miqsat Ma'ase Ha- Torah) - Some Observances of the Law (4Q394-9) Mutilated fragments of six Cave 4 manuscripts have acquired international notoriety on account of a lawsuit filed before the Jerusalem district court which found that one of the official editors of this text, Elisha Qimron, owned the copyright of the MMT text as reconstructed by him. Hershel Shanks, of the Biblical Archaeology Society of Washington, was held responsible for breaching this copyright and ordered to pay $43,000 damages. However, an appeal having been lodged with the Israeli Supreme Court, the matter is still subjudice. When the contents of the six copies are assembled into a single account, they amount to 120 lines mostly of a fragmentary nature. The document begins with a sectarian calendar (section A), which may or may not pertain to the original MMT; it continues with a series of special rules (section B), and ends with an exhortation (section C). MMT has been called an epistle, but since it lacks the introductory and concluding formulae of a letter, it is more likely to be a kind of legal tractate. It is addressed to a single leading personality who is compared to King David. The dramatis personae consist of a 'we' party, a 'you' party, and a 'they' party. The group responsible for MMT, who refer to themselves as 'we', seek to detach the leader of the 'you' party from the erroneous views propounded by the 'they' party. The editors claim that MMT was written by the Teacher of Righteousness and sent to the Wicked Priest; that the views of the 'we' party are akin to those of the Sadducees; and that the 'they' party are the Pharisees. However, these are no more than hypotheses. In particular, the identification of the author with the Teacher of Righteousness is less likely than that of the leader of the 'you' group with the man who was to

36become the Wicked Priest, probably Jonathan Maccabaeus. It has also been advanced that the original nucleus of the Qumran Community, responsible for MMT, consisted of early or proto- Sadducees. However, one should bear in mind that the priests in this writing are never called sons of Zadok or Sadducees, but are referred to as sons of Aaron (cf. 4QSb (=4Q256) and 4QSd (4Q258) above, p. 118). The alleged Sadducee connection relies on three legal rules, out of a list of more than twenty, in MMT which represent opinions identical with the halakhah attributed in rabbinic literature to the Sadducees, and contrasted with the stance taken by the Pharisees (cf. mParah 5:4 and MMT B 13-17; mYad 4:7; mToh 8:9 and MMT B 55-8; mYad 4:6 and MMT B 72-4). The chief topics of controversy are (I) the calendar (if it is an integral part of the document); (2) ritual purity (acceptability of Gentile offerings, law on slaughter, the 'red heifer' ritual, exclusion of the blind and the deaf, law relating to lepers, purity of running liquids, fourth-year fruit and tithe of cattle, ban on dogs in Jerusalem, the law regulating contact with dead bodies); (3) marriage and intermarriage rules, and (4) decrees regulating entry into the congregation. MMT is particularly important as a source of ancient legal debate. It is unique among the Dead Sea Scrolls and foreshadows the halakhic process developed and practised by later rabbis. Instead of presenting a composite text, the translation will reflect actual manuscripts and follow their line numbering. If there are overlapping fragments, gaps in the main manuscript will be filled from the parallel text and the borrowing will appear between {}. However, to assist the reader who desires to consult the Qimron-Strugnell edition, the line numbers of their composite text are given in brackets. Unlike the editors, I have been economical with purely conjectural restorations of the many gaps. Obscurities in the translation therefore faithfully reflect the real status of the Hebrew original. For the editio princeps, see E. Qimron and J. Strugnell, Qumran Cave 4, V (DJD, X, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994).

371. MMT A = A SECTARIAN CALENDAR (4Q394 1-2) (The fragmentary calendar is presented in five parallel columns which originally covered eighteen lines. Hence the end of the calendar at the top of 4Q394 3-7 i is listed as lines 19 to 21 by Qimron-Strugnell. Whether this calendar is part of the original MMT or is merely copied on the same scroll is uncertain.)

38I [On the sixteenth of it (of the second month): sabbath.] On the twenty-third of it: sabbath. [On] the thir[tie]th [of it: sabbath. On the seventh of the third month: sabbath. On the fourteenth of it: sabbath. On the fifteenth of it: Feast of Weeks. On the twenty-] II [f]irs[t] of it: sabbath. [On] the twenty-eighth of it: sabbath. The first of the sabbath (=Sunday), and the secon[d da]y (=Monday) [and the third are to be added. And the season is complete: ninety-one days. The first of the fourth month: Memorial day. On the fourth] III of it: [sabbath.] On the e[leventh] of it: sabbath. On the eighteenth of it: sabbath. On the twenty-fifth of it: sabbath. On the second of the fift[h] (month): [sa]bb[ath. On the third of it: Feast of Wine, first of sabbath (Sunday).] IV [On the ninth of it: sabbath.] On the sixteenth of it: sabbath. On the twenty-third of it: sabbath. [On the th]irtieth [of it: sabbath. On the seventh of the sixth (month): sabbath. On the fourteenth of it: sabbath.

39On the twenty-first] V of it: sabbath. On the twenty-second of it: Feast of Oil, fir[st of sab]bath (Sunday). Af[terwards]: offe[ring of Wood]. 4Q394 3-71 i (19) [The (twenty)-eighth of it (of the twelfth month)]: sabbath. The first [of the] s[abbath (=Sunday) and the second day (=Monday) and the third are to be ad]ded to it. (20) And the year is complete: three-hundred and si[xty-four] (21) days. vacat 2. MMT B = SPECIAL RULES (4Q394 3-7 i conflated with 4Q395) (I) These are some of our teachings [ ] which are [ (2) the] works which w[e think and a]ll of them concern [ ] (3) and the purity of... [And concerning the offering of the wh]eat of the [Gentiles which they ...] (4) and they touch it ... and de[file it ... One should not accept anything] (5) from the wheat [of the Gen]tiles [and none of it is] to enter the Sanctuary. [And concerning] {the sacrifice} (4Q395) ... (6) which they cook in a vessel ... {in it} (4Q395) (7) the meat of their sacrifices and that they ... in the courtyar[d ...] {it} (4Q395) (8) with the broth of their sacrifice. And concerning the sacrifice of the Gentiles ... [we consider that] they {sacrifice} (4Q395) (9) to [an idol and] that is [like] a woman fornicating with him. ... {the sacrifice} (4Q395) (10) of peace-off[erings] which they postpone from one day to the next. But [it is written (cf. Lev. 7:15)] (II) that the meal-offe[ring] {is eaten} (4Q395) with the fat and the meat on the day of [their] being sacrifi[ced. For the sons] (12) of the priest[s] {are to take care of this matter} (4Q395) so as not to (13) burden the

40people with sin. {And concerning the purity of the heifer of the sin-offering) (4Q395), (14) he who slaughters it and he who burns it and he who collects {its ashes and he who sprinkles the} (4Q395) [water] (15) of purification - all these {are to be pure} (4Q395) at sunset (16) so that the pure shall sprinkle the impure. For the sons (4Q394 3-7 ii conflated with 4Q395) (17) {of Aaron are to be} (4Q395) ... And furthermore (18) [concerning the sk]ins of the cattle [and the sheep ... from] (19) their [skin]s vessel[s ... [they are not to (20) bring] them to the Sanctuary ... (4Q397 1-2 conflated with 4Q398 1-3) (21)... And furthermore concerning the skin[s and bones of unclean animals, they shall not make from their bones] and from their s[k]i(ns] (22) handles of v[essels and] ... And furthermore [concerning the s]kin of the carcass (23) of a clean [animal], he who carries their carcass shall not touch the [sacred] purity. (24) And concerning ... (25) ... (4Q394 3-7 ii conflated with 4Q397 3) [the sons of] (26) the pri[es]ts are to [be care]f[ul] regarding {all these matters} (4Q397 3) so as not (27) to burden the people with sin. [And concerning that which is written, [If a man slaughters in the camp or (28) slaughters] outside the camp an ox or a lamb or a goat (Lev. 7:13) for ... {on the northern side of the camp} (4Q397 3). (29) And we consider the Sanctuary [as the tent of meeting and

41Je]rusale[m] as (30) the {camp and out[side] the} (4Q397 3) camp [i.e. outside Jerusalem], that is the camp (31) of their towns. Outside the camp ... they bring out the ashes [(32) of the] altar and they burn ... For Jerusalem] is the place which (33) [He has chosen] {from all the tri[bes of Israel]} (4Q397 3) ... (4Q396 1-2 i conflated with 4Q394 8 iii and 4Q397 5) (35) ... they [do no]t slaughter in the Sanctuary. (36) [And concerning pregnant animals] {we consider} (4Q397 5) [that one should not sacrifice] the mother and the unborn young on the same day. (37) [And concerning eating, w]e consider that the unborn young (38) may be eaten ... (provided it has been slaughtered) ... [this is] so and the saying is written concerning a pregnant animal. vacat (39) [And concerning the Ammon]{ite and the Moabite} (4Q394 8 iii) and the {bastard} (4Q397 5) [and the man whose testicles] have been crushed [and one] whose penis [has been cut off] who enter (40) the congregation, [... and] they [ta]ke [wives so as to be] {one} (4Q397 5) bone (with them) ... (41)... (4Q394 8 iii conflated with 4Q396 1-2 i-ii and 4Q397 5) (42) {impurities. And furthermore we consider} (4Q397 5) (43) [that they should not ... and should not have intercour]se with them. (44) [... and they should] {not unite with them} (4Q397 5) so as to make them (45) [into one bone (46) ... that some of the people ... (47) ... (48) {from all} (4Q397 5) (sexual) mingling (49) ... {and to be fearful of the Sanctuary} (4Q396 1- 2 ii). (4Q396 1-2 ii)

42[And furthermore concerning] {the blind} (4Q394 8 iv) (50) who do not see how to beware of all mingl[ings] (4Q394 8 iv conflated with 4Q396 1-2 ii and 4Q397 6-13) (51) and do not see the minglings which entail guilt (offering). (52) And furthermore concerning the deaf who have not heard the decrees and judgements and purity (rules) and have not (53) heard the judgements of Israel - for he who has not seen and has not heard (them) does not (54) know how to practise (them); yet they come to the pure food of the Sanctuary. vacat (55) And furthermore concerning the pouring (of liquids), we say that it contains no (56) purity. And furthermore the pouring does not separate the impure (57) {from the pure} (4Q397 6-13) for the poured liquid and that in the receptacle are alike, (58) one liquid. And {dogs} (4Q397 6-13) are not to be brought to the sacred camp for (59) they may eat some of the bones from the Sanctua[ry] to which meat is still attached. For (60) Jerusalem is {the sacred camp} (4Q397 6-13) and is the place (4Q396 1-2 iii conflated with 4Q394 8 iv and 4Q397 6-13) (61) which He has chosen from all the tribes of Israel, for Jerusalem is the head (62) of the camps of Israel. And furthermore con[cerning the pl]anting of fruit trees planted (63) in the land of Israel, they are like {firstfruits} (4Q397 6-13) destined for the {priests} (4Q397 6-13)- {And the tithe} (4Q394 8 iv) of the cattle (64) and sheep is for the priests. And furthermore concerning the lepers, we (65) s[ay that they shall not c]ome (into contact) with the sacred pure food for {they shall be} (4Q397 6-13) separated (66) ...

43Furthermore it is written that from the time he (the leper) has shaved and washed, he shall stay outside (67) ... [for seven] days. And now while their impurity is with them ... [they shall not (68) come into contact w]ith the sacred pure food of the house. And you know (69) ... and it is concealed from him, he is to bring (70) {a sin-offering) (4Q397 6-13). [And concerning the person who does anything with a high hand it is writ]ten that he is one who despises and reviles (God) (cf. Num. xv, 30- 31). (71) ... {impurities of leprosy} (4Q397 6-13), they are not to eat from the holy things (4Q396 1-2 iv conflated with 4Q397 6-13) (72) until the sun has set on the eighth day. And concerning [the impurities] (73) {of a man, we say that every} (4Q397 6-13) bone to which (74) flesh is or [is not] attached is to be treated according to the law of the dead or slain. vacat (75) And concerning fornication practised by the people, they should be s[ons of] holiness, (76) as it is written, {Israel} (4Q397 6-13) is holy (Jer. ii, 3). And concerning [his clea]n ani[mal], (77) it is written that it shall not be mated with a different kind. And concerning [his clothes], it is written that they shall [not (78) be of mixed] material. And he shall not sow his field and vine[yard with two kind]s. (79) For they are holy and the sons of Aaron are most h[oly]. (80) And you know that some of the priests and [the people mingle] (81) [and they] unite and defile the [holy] seed and also (82) their [seed] with whores f[or] ... (4Q397 14-21) (4) And concerning the wome[n ... violen]ce and betrayal ... (5) For in these ... [on account of] the violence and fornication they perish[ed ... ] (6) places.

44[And furthermore] it is written [in the Book of Moses that] You shall not bring an abominable thing in[to your house (cf. Deut. vii, 26) for] (7) an abominable thing is detestable. 3. MMT C = THE EXHORTATION (4Q397 14-21 I followed by 4Q398) [And you know that] we have separated from the mass of the peo[ple] ... (8) and from mingling with them in these matters and from being in contact with them in these (matters). And you k[now that no] treachery or lie or evil (9) is found in our hands for we give for [these] th[e ... And furthermore] (10) we [have written] to you (sing.) that you should understand {the Book of Moses} (4Q398 14-17 i) and the Book[s of the Pr]ophets and Davi[d and all (11) the events] of every age. And in {the Book is written} (40398 14-17 i) ... not [for] (12) you {and the days of old} (40398 14-17 i). And furthermore it is written that [you will depart] from the w[a]y and that evil will befall you (cf. Deut. xxxi, 29). {And it is written} (40398 14- 17 i), (4Q398 14-17 i) (13) And it (14) [shall come to pas]swhen all these {things} (4.Q39714-21) [be]fall you in the en[d] of days, the blessing (15) and the curse, [then you will call them to mind] and retu[rn to Him with a]ll your heart (16) and all your soul (Deut. xxx, 1-2) at the end of days. (17) [And it is written in the Book] of Moses and in the Boo[ks of the Prophet]s that there shall come ... (18) [and the blessings came] (4Q398 11-13)

45in the days of Solomon the son of David. And the curses (19) came from in the days of Jeroboam the son of Nebat (20) until Jerusalem and Zedekiah king of Judah were exiled that He will b[rin]g them to ... And we recognize that some of the blessings and curses which are (21) written in the B[ook of Mo]ses have come. And this is at the end of days when they will come back to Israel (22) for [ever] ... and shall not turn back-war [ds]. And the wicked shall act (23) wickedly and ... Remember the kings of Israel and understand their works that each of them who (24) feared [the To]rah was saved from troubles, and to those who were seekers of the Law, (25) their iniquities (4Q398 14-17 ii conflated with 4Q399) were [par]doned. Remember David, that he was a man of piety, and that (26) he was also saved from many troubles and pardoned. We have also written to you (sing.) concerning (27) some of the observances of the Law (miqsat ma'ase ha-Torab), which we think are beneficial to you and your people. For [we have noticed] that (28) prudence and knowledge of the Law are with you. Understand all these (matters) and ask Him to straighten (29) your counsel and put you far away from thoughts of evil and the counsel of Belial. (30) Consequently, you will rejoice at the end of time when you discover that some of our sayings are true. (31) And it will be reckoned for you as righteousness when you perform what is right and good before Him, for your own good (32) and for that of Israel. vacat

The Wicked and the Holy (4Q181)

1The first fragment of a document from Cave 4(4Q181), which its editor has left untitled, describes in a manner similar to Community Rule IV the respective destinies of the damned and the chosen. See J. M. Allegro and A. A. Anderson, DJD,V, 79-80; cf. J. Strugnell, RQ 7 (1970), 254-5; J. T. Milik, JJS 23 (1972), 114-18.

2... for guilt with the congregation of his people, for it has wallowed in the sin of the sons of men; (and it was appointed) for great judgements and evil diseases in the flesh according to the mighty deeds of God and in accordance with their wickedness. In conformity with their congregation of uncleanness, (they are to be separated) as a community of wickedness until (wickedness) ends. In accordance with the mercies of God, according to His goodness and wonderful glory, He caused some of the sons of the world to draw near (Him) ... to be counted with Him in the com[munity of the 'g]ods' as a congregation of holiness in service for eternal life and (sharing) the lot of His holy ones ... each man according to his lot which He has cast for ... for eternal life ...

34QHalakhah A (4Q251) Twenty-six severely damaged fragments, palaeographically dated to the late first century BCE, represent extracts from the Pentateuch with textual variations and exegetical paraphrases. The main topics are the Sabbath, compensation for injuries, firstfruits, the priest's wife, forbidden marital unions, etc. For the editio princeps, see E. Larson, M. R. Lehman and L. Schiffman, DJD, XXXV, 25-51. Frs. 1-2 ... and to draw water from a cistern ... the drawing ... [No] man shall take anything from his place on the Sabbath, [from outside the house into it] or from the house outsi[de] ... for him to interpret and read in the Book on the [Sabba]th ... Frs. 4-7 i ... [Wh]en m[en] quarrel [and one stri]kes [his fellow with a stone or with his fist and the man does not] di[e but keeps] his [be]d, [then if the man rises again] and w[alks outside, he who injur]ed him is not guilty. Only [he shall pay for the loss of his time] and for his medical [treatment]. vacat [When a man strikes his slave, male or female] with a rod ... (cf. Exod. 21:18-20).

4Fr. 8 [When a man strikes his slave, male or female,] in the eye [and destroys it, or if he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall free] him. He shall pay for the lo[ss of his time and for his medica]l treatment [for the sake of his eye or his tooth (cf. Exod. 21:26 combined with 21:19). When an ox gores a man or] a woman, the ox shall be killed and they will stone it [and its flesh shall not be eaten. But the owner of the ox will be not guilty. But if the ox has been accustomed to gore] in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it has killed [a ma]n or a woman, [the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death. If a ransom is laid upon him, then the man shall give ... (cf. Exod. 21:28-30). Fr. 9 [Let no man eat wheat, wi]ne or oil unless [the priest has waved] their best, the firstfruit of the produce. No man shall delay, for [wine] is the firstfruit of the produce, [and] the wheat. The juice ... (cf. Exod. 22:28). The firstfruits are the leavened loaves which they bring [on the d]ay of the [firstfruits.] These are firstfruits: let no man eat new wheat ... until the day of the bread of the firstfruits has come ... Fr. 16 ... When a woman is given to a priest, she [may eat] the food of her husband. [... One acquired by him for money and one born into his house, they] may eat his food. But a whore [and a profaned woman may not eat the consecrated food. And] every unfaithful deed which [a

5man] shall commit ... to eat, for it is an abomination ... owner who is without redeemer ... Fr. 17 On cases of incest ... No man shall take the w[ife of his father so as to uncover the skirt of his father. No man shall take] the daughter of his brother or the daughter of [his] si[ster]. No man shall uncover the nakedness of the sister of [his] mo[ther or of his father. This is wickedness. A woman shall not be given to the brother of] her father or to the brother of her mother ... A man shall not uncover the nakedness of ... A man shall not give his daughter ...

64QHalakhah B (4Q264a) Three fragments of a legal document, the first of which partly overlaps with various sections of 4Q421, deal with Sabbath regulations. For the editio princeps, see J. M. Baumgarten, DJD, XXXV, 53-6. Fr. I i I ... [No man shall revise the scro]ll of a book reading its script on the day of [Sabbath] ... But they may read and study it. No man shall make plans with his mouth ... [on the day of Sabbath. He shall not talk] about any matter relating to work or wealth or ... on the day of Sabbath. He shall sp[eak no wo]rd apart from speaking holy words as prescribed and from pronouncing blessings of God. He may talk about eating and drink[ing] ...

74QTohorot (Purities) A (4Q274) This is the first of ten Cave 4 manuscripts dealing with purity matters. The text translated represents column I of the document and the first word of column II. 4Q274 deals with uncleanness caused by bodily fluxes and issues of blood and with the means of its removal. Parts of fr. 3 are concerned with the uncleanness associated with the juice oozing out of fruit. For the editio princeps, see J. M. Baumgarten, DJD, XXXV, 99- 109. Fr. I i I ... [Let him not] begin to cast his lot. He shall lie on a bed of sorrow and sit in a seat of sighs. He shall dwell in isolation with all the unclean, and away from (food) purity at a distance of twelve cubits in the wing (assigned) to him (?) on the north-west of every dwelling-house according to this measure. Every man from among the unclean ... he shall bathe in water [on the seven]th d[ay] and wash his clothes, and afterwards he may eat. For this is what he said, He shall cry, Unclean, unclean (Lev. xiii, 45), as long as [the pla]gue af[fects him]. A woman with a seven-day issue of blood shall not touch a man with a flux, nor any vessel touched by a man who has a flux, nor anything he has lain or sat on. But if she has touched (them), she shall wash her garments and bathe, and afterwards she may eat. Above all, she shall not mingle (with the pure) [during] her seven days so that she may not pollute the c[amp]s of the Ho[ly] of Israel. Neither shall she touch any woman with a long-term issue of blood. And the person, either male or

8female, who counts (the seven days: cf. Lev. xv, 13) shall not touch the menstruant during her uncleanness. Only when she has purified herself [from] her [un]cleanness (may she be touched), for the blood of the menstruant is reckoned as a flux for anyone who touches it. And if he has touched [bodily] f[lux or s]emen, h[e shall] be unclean. [And he who has tou]ched a man from among all these unclean persons during the seven days of [his] cleans[ing] he shall [n]ot eat. If he has become unclean because of a corp[se, he shall bathe in wat]er, wash (his garments) and afterwards II he may e[at]. Fr. 2 i ... when they sprinkle on him for the first time. He shall bathe and wash (his clothes) before [he eats. If it oc]curs for him on the seventh (day) on the Sabbath day, he shall not sprinkle on the Sabbath, for [He says: Keep] the Sabbath (Deut. v, 12). But he shall not touch anything pure until he has repeated it. All that touches semen be it a man or any vessel shall be immersed. And the bearer of it [shall immer]se. And the garment on which it (the semen) is and the vessel which carries it shall be immersed [in wate]r. If there is a man in the camp who is unable to do this (lacks a spare garment), he shall bath[e and put on an]y garment which has not been touched by it (the semen) as long as it does not touch his bread (food). He who touches [his bed or] his [sea]t, if [his] gar[ment] has not touched it (the semen), [he shall bathe] in water. But if [his garment has touched it (the bed or the seat)], he shall wash it (the garment). A man shall wash (his garment) with water for (eating) all consecrated food ... 4Q274 3 i-ii I ... God uncovers the pupil of his eye, he shall read ... all their precepts ... for he who eats ... and he is unclean ... [if] (the fruit's) juice [has not

9oozed out, he shall eat it in purity, but all those] which have been squeezed so that their juice has oozed out, no man should eat them [if] an unclean man [has to]uched them. [And al]so from the greens ... or ripe cucumber. Whoever has ...

10II ... and any (vessel) which has a seal ... [shall be unclean] for a cleaner man. Any green [that has no] moisture of dew [on it] may be eaten. And if it is n[ot eaten, let him put it] into the midst of the water. For if a man [were to put it on] the ground, and [water] reached it when the rain [descended] on it, if an [unclean man] touches it, [let him not eat it] in the field by any means until the period [of his purification] ... Any earthen vessel which ... which is in its midst ... the liquid ...

114QTohorot Ba-Bb (40276-7) These two fragments deal with the biblical law of the 'red heifer', the ashes of which were used for the preparation of the 'water for (the removal of) uncleanness' necessary for the cleansing of impurity resulting from contact with a dead body. Relevant extracts from Num. xix are freely quoted. The subject is treated also in MMT B 13 (4Q394 frs. 3-7 i, 16-20). The script dates to the late first century BCE. For the editio princeps, see J. M. Baumgarten, DJD, XXXV, 111- 19. 4Q276 [And the priest wears the garments] in which he is not ministering in the Sanctuary ... renders the garments guilty. And he slaughtered [the] heifer before Him. He shall carry her blood in a clay vessel which is [not brough]t near the altar. And with his finger he shall sprinkle some of her blood seven [times towa]rds the front of the tent of meeting. And he shall cast the cedarwood, [the hyssop and the scarlet ma]terial in the midst of her burning. [And he who burns (it)], a man who is clean of every corpse uncleanness, [shall wash his clothes and gather] up the ashes of the heifer [and shall de]posit them to be kept [by the children of Israel for the water for uncleanness, for the removal of sin. And] the priest shall put on ... 4Q277

12The priest shall take the hyssop and ... The man cleansed from uncleanness (lasting until) the evening [shall gather the ashes of the heifer and give them to] the priest who atones with the blood of the heifer ... with [whi]ch they atone with the law of the [red heifer] ... in water [and he shall be un]clean until the evening. And he who carries the cauldron of the water for uncleanness shall be uncl[ean and shall wash himself in water and wash (his clothes)]. And [the] man [shall sprinkle] the water for uncleanness on those defiled by uncleanness, for a pure priest ... on them, fo[r he shall] atone for the unclean. No wanton man shall sprinkle on the unclean ... the water for uncleanness and he shall bring him to the water and shall purify him from corpse uncleanness.... [The pri]est shall scatter on them the water for uncleanness to purify [them] ... for they will indeed be purified and their flesh shall be p[ure] and anyone who touches [him] ... his flux ... and [his] h[ands] are not drenched in water. His [b]ed and [his] dwelli[ng] shall be unclean ... they who touch his flux are like one who has touched the uncleanness of one who has touched (a corpse); [he will be unc]lean until the evening. And he who carries his [cl]othes shall wash and shall be unclean until the evening.

134Q Harvesting (4Q284a) Four fragments of a document have survived in a late Hasmonaean— early Herodian script (mid-first century BCE). They deal with matters of uncleanness affecting fruits. Only fr. 1 is translatable. The phrase 'liquids of the Congregation' links this fragment to IQS VI, 20, VII, 20. For the editio princeps, see J. M. Baumgarten, DJD, XXXV, 131-3. Fr. 1 ... bask[et ... And let him no]t gather them ... may not touch the liquids of the Congregation, for these [render unclean the] basket and the figs [and the pomegranates, if] their ju[ice] oozes out wh[en he squee]zes them all and [a man] who has not been brou[ght into the C]ovenant has gathered them. And if they press [olives in the olive press], let him not pollute them in a[ny man]ner by opening them until he pours [them into the press].... in purity ...

14The Master's Exhortation to the Sons of Dawn (40298) Eight fragments of a manuscript which, apart from its title, is written in a cryptic alphabet, contain an exhortation to a group, designated as 'sons of dawn' by the 'Master' (maskil), the title of the teacher in charge of instruction in the Community (cf. Community Rule). The phrase, 'sons of dawn' (bene ha-shahar) is possibly attested in the Damascus Document XIII, 14 (cf. M. Broshi, The Damascus Document Reconsidered, Jerusalem, 1992, [35]: 'No member of the Covenant shall have any dealings with the sons of dawn except for payment'). The earlier reading was 'sons of the Pit' (bene ha-shahat). S. Pfann suggests that 'the sons of dawn' (not yet 'sons of light') are newcomers to the sect at the earliest stages of their initiation. The exhortation recalls the opening pages of the Damascus Document. The square script of the title is said to belong to the second half of the first century BCE. Parts of frs. 1-2 and 3-4 are large enough to be translated. For the editio princeps, see Stephen Pfann and M. Kister, DJD, XX, 1-30. 4Q298, frs. 1-2 i [Wor]d of the Master which he spoke to all the sons of Dawn. Liste[n to me a]ll men of heart (=intelligence) and understand my word. [And seeke]rs of righteousness, h[ea]r my word in all that proceeds from [my] lips. Those who [k]now have sear[ch]ed [th]ese (matters) and [have] returned [to the path] of life ...

15Frs- 3-4 ii ... And now listen, [O wise men], and hear, O you with knowledge, hear. And men of understanding, in[crease migh]t, and modesty, you who search judgement. [You who] kn[ow the way], increase strength, and men of truth, pursu[e righteousness], and you who love kindness, increase humility ... appointed time which ... you will understand the end of the ages and you will gaze at ancient things to know ...

164Q Men Who Err (40306) Three small fragments allude to a group unfaithful to the Covenant (of Israel). The allusion to dogs recalls 4QMMT B 58-9. For the editio princeps, see T. Lim, DJD, XXXVI, 249-54. Fr. 1 The outcasts (?) who stray and do not practise [the precept], for they transgress it [from day] to day, from month to mon[th], all that is (in) the Covenant of I[srael].... its flesh and they spit ... and he will be angry. And the dogs will eat [the bones (coming) from the Temple]. He shall exclude the d[og]s from the (Temple) court ...

Register of Rebukes (4Q477)

1Fragments of two columns of a document contain a list of Community members rebuked for offences against the rules. This is the only scroll fragment which reveals the names of individual members: Yohanan son of Ar[ ], Hananiah Notos and Hananiah son of Sim[on]. According to the editor, Esther Eshel, the rebukes listed here were read out in public by the mebaqqer (or Guardian), hence the title given by her, The Rebukes Reported by the Overseer. To be more precise, it is likely that the rebukes originated with witnesses of the offence. They reported it to the Guardian who was to record the infringement (cf. CD IX, 2-4; 16-20). The epithet Notos attached to the name of Hananiah probably means 'Southerner' in line with a parallel Masada inscription (no. 462: Shim'on bar Notos) according to Y. Yadin and J. Naveh, Masada I (Jerusalem, 1989), 40. D. Flusser, as quoted by Eshel, associates Notos with the Greek nothos (bastard). In col. II, 1. 8, Eshel, following M. Broshi, reads shyr (=sh'r) bsrw (i.e. near kin); R. Eisenman and M. Wise have shpk bsrw (emission of his body) and J. M. Baumgarten (JJS 45 (1994), 277) swd bsrw (the carnal foundation of man). Frs. 1, 2 i and 3: the text is too fragmentary for translation. Note the significant phrases '[to] recall their transgression', 'men of the [Community?]', 'to rebuke' and ['c]amps of the Congregation' and 'they rebuked'. For the editio princeps, see E. Eshel, DJD, XXXVI, 474-83. Fr. 2

2II ... who ... [wh]o acted wickedly ... the Congregation ... Yohanan son of Ar ... [they rebuked because] he was short-tempered ... with him ... the iniquity with him and also the spirit of pride was with [him] ... vacat They rebuked Hananiah Notos because he ... [to dis]turb the spirit of the Communi[ty ... and] also to mingle the ... they rebu[k]ed because evil ... was with him and also because he was not ... and also because he loved his bodily nature (or: showed preference to his near kin) ... [blank] And [they rebuked] Hananiah son of Sim[on] [because he] ... and he also loves the goodness ...

Remonstrances (before Conversion?) (4Q471a)

1This small fragment, written in Herodian script, contains reproofs addressed in the second person plural to a group of wicked Jews. The context is that of a war. It is unlikely to belong to the War Scroll or the Book of War as neither of these includes speeches to outsiders. According to a conjecture proposed by the editors, the opponents of the sect thus criticized are the ruling class of Judaea (Hasmonaeans and perhaps also Sadducees), but nothing in the surviving text positively supports their cautiously presented surmise. However, the second half of the fragment can be interpreted in a positive sense, in which case the scene may be a last-minute mass conversion of unfaithful Jews before the final battle. For the editio princeps, see Esther Eshel and Menahem Kister, DJD, XXXVI, 446-9.

2... time(?) you have commanded not to ... You have been unfaithful to His covenant ... [You] said: Let us fight His wars for He has redeemed us ... Your [mighty men] shall be humbled. And they did not know that He has despised ... you shall show yourselves mighty in war. And you have been reckoned ... by His measuring line(?). You shall seek righteous judgement and the work ... you shall exalt yourselves. And He has chosen t[hem] ... for a cry ... And you will return ... sweet

3B. Hymns and Poems 'Thanksgiving Scroll', The Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum, Jerusalem

The Thanksgiving Hymns (IQH, IQ36, 4Q427-32)

1The Hymns Scroll was published by E. L. Sukenik in 1954-5 (The Dead Sea Scrolls of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem). It has suffered a good deal of deterioration and the translator has difficulty, not only in making sense of the poems, but also in determining where one ends and another begins. For a method of restoration of the Hymns, see E. Puech, 'Quelques aspects de la restauration du Rouleau des Hymnes', JJS 39 (1988), 38-55. He has convincingly argued that apart from some fragments, the first three columns of the original Hymns Scroll are lost. The missing beginning should be followed by the existing columns in the following order: XVII (sheet 1), XIII-XVI (sheet 2), I-IV (sheet 3), V-VIII (sheet 4) and IX-XII of the editio princeps. Four further columns (XXI-XXIV) may be reconstructed with the help of the former col. XVIII and various fragments published by Sukenik. Puech tentatively suggests also two further columns (XXV- XXVI) made up from other fragments. Our presentation of the Hymns is now rearranged according to Puech's thesis and his reconstruction of the poem in col. VI (formerly XIV) is also adopted (cf. art. cit., 53-4). No translation is offered for the extremely fragmentary cols. XXIV-XXVI, though it should be noted that col. xxv includes the beginning of a new poem, 'For the Master. A s[ong (?)]' from IQH, fr. 8. Further fragments, occasionally used to improve the reading of IQH, may be found at IQ35 (cf. also IQ36 and 37-40; see DJD, I, 136-43) and 4Q427-32; for the latter, see Eileen Schuller, DJD, XXIX, 69-232. The poems contained in the Scroll are similar to the biblical Psalms. They are mostly hymns of thanksgiving, individual prayers as opposed to those intended for communal worship, expressing a rich variety of spiritual and doctrinal detail. But the two fundamental themes running

2through the whole collection are those of salvation and knowledge. The sectary thanks God continually for having been saved from the 'lot' of the wicked, and for his gift of insight into the divine mysteries. He, a 'creature of clay', has been singled out by his Maker to receive favours of which he feels himself unworthy and he alludes again and again to his frailty and total dependence on God. Whereas some of the Hymns give expression to thoughts and sentiments common to all the members of the sect, others, particularly nos. 1, 2, and 7-11, appear to refer to the experiences of a teacher abandoned by his friends and persecuted by his enemies. Several scholars tend to ascribe the authorship of these to the Teacher of Righteousness, and even consider that he may be responsible for all the Hymns. But although this hypothesis is not impossible, no sure conclusion can yet be reached. Nor are we in a position to date any particular composition. The most we can say is that the collection as such probably attained its final shape during the last pre-Christian century. Philo's account of the banquet celebrated by the contemplative Essenes, or Therapeutae, on the Feast of Pentecost may indicate the use to which the Hymns were put. He reports that when the President of the meeting had ended his commentary on the Scriptures, he rose and chanted a hymn, either one of his own making or an old one, and after him each of his brethren did likewise (The Contemplative Life, § 80). Similarly, it is probable that the psalms of this Scroll were recited by the Guardian and newly initiated members at the Feast of the Renewal of the Covenant. Hymn 4 (formerly 21) expressly refers to the oath of the Covenant, and Hymn 5 (formerly 22) appears to be a poetic commentary on the liturgy marking the entry into the Community. Indeed, the relative poverty of principal themes may be due to the fact that all this poetry was intended for a special occasion and its inspirational scope was thereby limited.

3Cols. I-III are missing.

4IV (formerly XVII) ...

5As Thou hast said by the hand of Moses, Thou forgivest transgression, iniquity, and sin, and pardonest rebellion and unfaithfulness.

6For the bases of the mountains shall melt and fire shall consume the deep places of Hell, but Thou wilt deliver all those that are corrected by Thy judgements, that they may serve Thee faithfully and that their seed may be before Thee for ever. Thou wilt keep Thine oath and wilt pardon their transgression; Thou wilt cast away all their sins.

7Thou wilt cause them to inherit all the glory of Adam and abundance of days. Hymn 2 (formerly 24) [I give Thee thanks] because of the spirits which Thou hast given to me! I [will bring forth] a reply of the tongue to recount Thy righteous deeds, and the forbearance ... and the works of Thy mighty right hand, and [the pardon] of the sins of the forefathers. [I will bow down] and implore Thy mercy [on my sins and wicked] deeds, and on the perversity of [my heart], for I have wallowed in uncleanness, and have [turned aside] from the counsel [of Thy truth] and I have not laboured ... [For] Thine, Thine is righteousness,

8and an everlasting blessing be upon Thy Name! [According to] Thy righteousness, let [Thy servant] be redeemed [and] the wicked be brought to an end.

9For I have understood that [it is Thou who dost establish] the path of whomsoever Thou choosest; Thou dost hedge him in with [true] discernment that he may not sin against Thee, and that his humility [may bear fruit] through Thy chastisement. [Thou dost purify] his heart in [Thy trials]. [Preserve] Thy servant, [O God], lest he sin against Thee, or stagger aside from any word of Thy will. Strengthen the [loins of Thy servant that he may] resist the spirits [of falsehood, that] he may walk in all that Thou lovest, and despise all that Thou loathest,

10[that he may do] that which is good in Thine eyes. [Destroy] their [dominion] in my bowels, for [within] Thy servant is a spirit of [flesh]. Hymn 3 (formerly 25) [I thank Thee, O Lord, for] Thou didst shed [Thy] Holy Spirit upon Thy Servant V (formerly XIII) All these things [Thou didst establish in Thy wisdom. Thou didst appoint] all Thy works before ever creating them: the host of Thy spirits and the Congregation [of Thy Holy Ones, the heavens and all] their hosts and the earth and all it brings forth. In the seas and deeps ...

11... and an everlasting task; for Thou hast established them from before eternity.

12And the work of ... and they shall recount Thy glory throughout all Thy dominion For Thou hast shown them that which they had not [seen by removing all] ancient things and creating new ones, by breaking asunder things anciently established, and raising up the things of eternity. For [Thou art from the beginning] and shalt endure for ages without end. And Thou hast [appointed] all these things in the mysteries of Thy wisdom to make known Thy glory [to all].

13[But what is] the spirit of flesh that it should understand all this, and that it should comprehend

14the great [design of Thy wisdom]? What is he that is born of woman in the midst of all Thy terrible [works]? He is but an edifice of dust, and a thing kneaded with water, whose beginning [is sinful iniquity], and shameful nakedness, [and a fount of uncleanness], and over whom a spirit of straying rules. If he is wicked he shall become [a sign for] ever, and a wonder to (every) generation, [and an object of horror to all] flesh.

15By Thy goodness alone is man righteous,

16and with Thy many mercies [Thou strengthenest him]. Thou wilt adorn him with Thy splendour and wilt [cause him to reign amid] many delights with everlasting peace and length of days. [For Thou hast spoken], and Thou wilt not take back Thy word.

17And I, Thy servant, I know by the spirit which Thou hast given to me [that Thy words are truth], and that all Thy works are righteousness, and that Thou wilt not take back Thy word VI (formerly XIV) Hymn 4 (formerly 21) [Blessed art Thou,] O Lord who hast given understanding to the heart of [Thy] servant that he may understand all these things and resist [the works] of wickedness and bless justly all those who choose Thy will, [and that he may love all] that Thou lovest and loathe all that Thou [hatest]. Thou shalt instruct Thy servant ... [spi]rits of man for Thou hast cast their (lot) according to the spirits between good and evil to accomplish their task. And I know through the understanding which comes from Thee, that in Thy goodwill towards m[a]n [Thou hast] increa[sed his inheritance] in Thy Holy Spirit and thus Thou hast drawn me near to understanding of Thee. And the closer I approach, the more am I filled with zeal

18against all the workers of iniquity and the men of deceit.

19For none of those who approach Thee rebels against Thy command, nor do any of those who know Thee alter Thy words; for Thou art righteous, and all Thine elect are truth. Thou wilt blot out all injustice and wickedness for ever, and Thy righteousness shall be revealed before the eyes of all Thy creatures.

20I know through Thy great goodness; and with an oath I have undertaken never to sin against Thee, nor to do anything evil in Thine eyes. And thus do I bring into community all the men of my Council.

21I will cause each man to draw near in accordance with his understanding, and according to the greatness of his inheritance, so will I love him. I will not honour an evil man, nor consider [the bribes of shame]; I will [not] barter Thy truth for riches, nor one of Thy precepts for bribes.

22But [I will lo]ve [each ma]n according to his sp[eech](?) and according as Thou removest him far from Thee, so will I hate him; and none of those who have turned [from] Thy [Co]venant will I bring into the Council [of Thy] t[ruth].

23Hymn 5 (formerly 22) [I thank] Thee, O Lord, as befits the greatness of Thy power and the multitude of Thy marvels for ever and ever. [Thou art a merciful God] and rich in [favours], pardoning those who repent of their sin and visiting the iniquity of the wicked. [Thou delightest in] the free-will offering [of the righteous] but iniquity Thou hatest always. Thou hast favoured me, Thy servant, with a spirit of knowledge, [that I may choose] truth [and goodness] and loathe all the ways of iniquity. And I have loved Thee freely and with all my heart; [contemplating the mysteries of] Thy wisdom [I have sought Thee]. For this is from Thy hand and [nothing is done] without [Thy will]. VII (formerly XV) I have loved Thee freely and with all my heart and soul I have purified... [that I might not] turn aside from any of Thy commands. I have clung to the Congregation... that I might not be separated from any of Thy laws.

24I know through the understanding which comes from Thee that righteousness is not in a hand of flesh, [that] man [is not master of] his way and that it is not in mortals to direct their step. I know that the inclination of every spirit [is in Thy hand]; Thou didst establish [all] its [ways] before ever creating it, and how can any man change Thy words?

25Thou alone didst [create] the just and establish him from the womb for the time of goodwill, that he might hearken to Thy Covenant and walk in all (Thy ways), and that [Thou mightest show Thyself great] to him in the multitude of Thy mercies, and enlarge his straitened soul to eternal salvation, to perpetual and unfailing peace. Thou wilt raise up his glory from among flesh.

26But the wicked Thou didst create for [the time] of Thy [wrath], Thou didst vow them from the womb to the Day of Massacre, for they walk in the way which is not good. They have despised [Thy Covenant] and their souls have loathed Thy [truth]; they have taken no delight in all Thy commandments and have chosen that which Thou hatest.

27[For according to the mysteries] of Thy [wisdom], Thou hast ordained them for great chastisements before the eyes of all Thy creatures, that [for all] eternity they may serve as a sign [and a wonder], and that [all men] may know Thy glory and Thy tremendous power.

28But what is flesh that it should understand [these things]? And how should [a creature of] dust direct his steps? It is Thou who didst shape the spirit and establish its work [from the beginning]; the way of all the living proceeds from Thee.

29I know that no riches equal Thy truth, and [have therefore desired to enter the Council of] Thy holiness. I know that Thou hast chosen them before all others and that they shall serve Thee for ever. Thou wilt [take no bribe for the deeds of iniquity], nor ransom for the works of wickedness; for Thou art a God of truth and [wilt destroy] all iniquity [for ever, and] no [wickedness] shall exist before Thee. VIII (formerly XVI) Because I know all these things my tongue shall utter a reply. Bowing down and [confessing all] my transgressions, I will seek [Thy] spirit [of knowledge]; cleaving to Thy spirit of [holiness], I will hold fast to the truth of Thy Covenant, that [I may serve] Thee in truth and wholeness of heart, and that I may love [Thy Name].

30Blessed art Thou, O Lord, Maker [of all things and mighty in] deeds: all things are Thy work! Behold, Thou art pleased to favour [Thy servant], and hast graced me with Thy spirit of mercy and [with the radiance] of Thy glory. Thine, Thine is righteousness, for it is Thou who hast done all [these things]!

31I 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

32except 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 6 (formerly I) IX (formerly I) Thou art long-suffering in Thy judgements and righteous in all Thy deeds.

33By 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.

34Thou 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 (of snow and hail) to their purposes, ... to their mysteries.

35Thou hast created the earth by Thy power and the seas and deeps [by Thy might]. Thou hast fashioned [all] their [inhabi]tants according to Thy wisdom, and hast appointed all that is in them according to Thy will.

36[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,

37[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

38Thou didst establish their destiny before ever they were. All things [exist] according to [Thy will] and without Thee nothing is done.

39These things I know by the wisdom which comes from Thee, for Thou hast unstopped my ears to marvellous mysteries.

40And 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.

41What shall a man say concerning his sin?

42And 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.

43It 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.

44By 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

45in 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].

46Hear, 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!

47[but the foo]lish of heart shall not comprehend these things X (formerly II) 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,

48the 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].

49They 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 7 (formerly 2) 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.

50Violent men have sought after my life

51because 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.

52And 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

53against which there is no cure, and the flame of (their) 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.

54But my foot remains upon level ground; apart from their assembly I will bless Thy Name. Hymn 8 (formerly 3) 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.

55Because [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 9(formerly 4) XI (formerly III) They caused [me] to be like a ship on the deeps of the [sea], and like a fortified city before [the aggressor],

56[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.

57For 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.

58When 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.

59And 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.

60The 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.

61All 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.

62And 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 10 (formerly 5) 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.

63I 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.

64Thou 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.

65And 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 (were spread) 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 (fell) 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.

66The 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

67and the roots of the rocks shall turn to torrents of pitch; it shall devour as far as the great Abyss.

68The 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 11 (formerly 6) 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 XII (formerly IV) Hymn 12 (formerly 7) I thank Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast illumined my face by Thy Covenant,

69I 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.

70And 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 (which they speak) 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.

71But 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.

72As 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;

73they walk in stubbornness of heart and seek Thee among idols, and they set before themselves the stumbling-block of their sin.

74They 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.

75For [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 (the way)'. 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.

76Clinging to Thee, I will stand. I will rise against those who despise me and my hand shall be turned against those who deride me;

77for 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.

78Thou 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 (wilt make of them) a hammer to all the peoples of the lands, that at the Judgement they may cut off all those who transgress Thy word.

79Through 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.

80But what is flesh (to be worthy) of this? What is a creature of clay for such great marvels to be done,

81whereas 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.

82As 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.

83I 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,

84[but for the sake of Thy glory]. For Thou hast created the just and the wicked XIII (formerly V) Hymn 13 (formerly 8) I thank Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast not abandoned me whilst I sojourned among a people [burdened with sin].

85[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.

86Thou 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.

87For Thou, O God, hast sheltered me from the children of men,

88and 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].

89Thou hast dealt wondrously with the poor one to manifest Thy might within me in the presence of the sons of men.

90Thou 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.

91Hymn 14 (formerly 9) I thank Thee (corrected: Blessed art Thou) 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.

92But 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.

93[All who have ea]ten 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

94before the children of mischief concerning the mystery which Thou hast hidden in me. And to show Thy great[ness] through me, and because of their guilt, Thou hast hidden the fountain of understanding and the counsel of truth.

95They consider but the mischief of their heart; [with] devilish [schemings] they unsheathe

96a perfidious tongue from which ever springs the poison of dragons. And like (serpents) 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.

97They 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

98and my tongue cleaves to the roof [of my mouth]; [for I fear the mischief of] their heart and their inclination (towards evil) appears as bitterness before me. The light of my face is dimmed to darkness and my radiance is turned to decay.

99For 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

100and drink unceasing tears; truly, my eyes are dimmed by grief, and my soul by daily bitterness.

101[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.

102Truly, 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]

103[The torrents of Belial] have encompassed my soul [leaving me without deliverance] Hymn 14 (formerly 10) XIV (formerly VI) 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 k[ing]doms when they assemble;

104[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.

105Thou wilt do these things for Thy glory and for Thine own sake, to [magnify] the Law and [the truth and to enlighten] the members of Thy Council in the midst of the sons of men, that they may recount Thy marvels for everlasting generations and [meditate] unceasingly upon Thy mighty deeds. All the nations shall acknowledge Thy truth, and all the people Thy glory.

106For Thou wilt bring Thy glorious [salvation] to all the men of Thy Council, to those who share a common lot with the Angels of the Face. And among them shall be no mediator to [invoke Thee], and no messenger [to make] reply; for ... They shall reply according to Thy glorious word and shall be Thy princes in the company [of the Angels]. They shall send out a bud [for ever] like a flower [of the fields], and shall cause a shoot to grow into the boughs of an everlasting Plant.

107It shall cover the whole [earth] with its shadow [and its crown] (shall reach) to the [clouds]; its roots (shall go down) to the Abyss [and all the rivers of Eden shall water its branches].

108A source of light shall become an eternal ever-flowing fountain, and in its bright flames all the [sons of iniquity] shall be consumed; [it shall be] a fire to devour all sinful men in utter destruction.

109They who bore the yoke of my testimony have been led astray [by teachers of lies], [and have rebelled] against the service of righteousness. Whereas Thou, O my God, didst command them to mend their ways [by walking] in the way of [holiness], where no man goes who is uncircumcised or unclean or violent, they have staggered aside from the way of Thy heart and languish in [great] wretchedness. A counsel of Belial is in their heart [and in accordance with] their wicked design they wallow in sin.

110[I am] as a sailor in a ship amid furious seas; their waves and all their billows roar against me. [There is no] calm in the whirlwind that I may restore my soul, no path that I may straighten my way on the face of the waters. The deeps resound to my groaning

111and [my soul has journeyed] to the gates of death.

112But I shall be as one who enters a fortified city, as one who seeks refuge behind a high wall until deliverance (comes);

113I will [lean on] Thy truth, O my God. For Thou wilt set the foundation on rock and the framework by the measuring-cord of justice; and the tried stones [Thou wilt lay] by the plumb-line [of truth], to [build] a mighty [wall] which shall not sway; and no man entering there shall stagger.

114For no enemy shall ever invade [it since its doors shall be] doors of protection through which no man shall pass; and its bars shall be firm and no man shall break them. No rabble shall enter in with their weapons of war until all the [arrows] of the war of wickedness have come to an end.

115And then at the time of Judgement the Sword of God shall hasten, and all the sons of His truth shall awake to [overthrow] wickedness; all the sons of iniquity shall be no more. The Hero shall bend his bow; the fortress shall open on to endless space and the everlasting gates shall send out weapons of war. They shall be mighty from end to end [of the earth and there shall be no escape] for the guilty of heart [in their battle]; they shall be utterly trampled down

116without any [remnant. There shall be no] hope in the greatness [of their might], no refuge for the mighty warriors; for [the battle shall be] to the Most High God Hoist a banner, O you who lie in the dust! O bodies gnawed by worms, raise up an ensign for [the destruction of wickedness]!

117[The sinful shall] be destroyed in the battles against the ungodly. The scourging flood when it advances shall not invade the stronghold XV (formerly VII) As for me, I am dumb ... [my arm] is torn from its shoulder and my foot has sunk into the mire. My eyes are closed by the spectacle of evil, and my ears by the crying of blood. My heart is dismayed by the mischievous design, for Belial is manifest in their (evil) inclination. All the foundations of my edifice totter and my bones are pulled out of joint; my bowels heave like a ship in a violent tempest and my heart is utterly distressed. A whirlwind engulfs me because of the mischief of their sin. Hymn 15 (formerly 11) I thank Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast upheld me by Thy strength. Thou hast shed Thy Holy Spirit upon me that I may not stumble.

118Thou hast strengthened me before the battles of wickedness, and during all their disasters Thou hast not permitted that fear should cause me to desert Thy Covenant. Thou hast made me like a strong tower, a high wall, and hast established my edifice upon rock; eternal foundations serve for my ground, and all my ramparts are a tried wall which shall not sway.

119Thou hast placed me, O my God, among the branches of the Council of Holiness; Thou hast [established my mouth] in Thy Covenant, and my tongue is like that of Thy disciples; whereas the spirit of disaster is without a mouth and all the sons of iniquity without a reply; for the lying lips shall be dumb. For Thou wilt condemn in Judgement all those who assail me, distinguishing through me between the just and the wicked. For Thou knowest the whole intent of a creature, Thou discernest every reply, and Thou hast established my heart [on] Thy teaching and truth, directing my steps into the paths of righteousness that I may walk before Thee in the land [of the living], into paths of glory and [infinite] peace which shall [never] end. For Thou knowest the inclination of Thy servant, that I have not relied [upon the works of my hands] to raise up [my heart], nor have I sought refuge

120in my own strength. I have no fleshly refuge, [and Thy servant has] no righteous deeds to deliver him from the [Pit of no] forgiveness. But I lean on the [abundance of Thy mercies] and hope [for the greatness] of Thy grace, that Thou wilt bring [salvation] to flower and the branch to growth, providing refuge in (Thy) strength [and raising up my heart].

121[For in] Thy righteousness Thou hast appointed me for Thy Covenant, and I have clung to Thy truth and [gone forward in Thy ways].

122Thou hast made me a father to the sons of grace, and as a foster-father to men of marvel; they have opened their mouths like little babes ... like a child playing in the lap of its nurse. Thou hast lifted my horn above those who insult me, and those who attack me [sway like the boughs] (of a tree); my enemies are like chaff before the wind, and my dominion is over the sons [of iniquity, For] Thou hast succoured my soul, O my God, and hast lifted my horn on high. And I shall shine in a seven-fold light in [the Council appointed by] Thee for Thy glory; for Thou art an everlasting heavenly light to me and wilt establish my feet [upon level ground for ever]. Hymn 16 (formerly 12) I [thank Thee, O Lord],

123for Thou hast enlightened me through Thy truth. In Thy marvellous mysteries, and in Thy loving-kindness to a man [of vanity, and] in the greatness of Thy mercy to a perverse heart Thou hast granted me knowledge.

124Who is like Thee among the gods, O Lord, and who is according to Thy truth? Who, when he is judged, shall be righteous before Thee? For no spirit can reply to Thy rebuke nor can any withstand Thy wrath.

125Yet Thou bringest all the sons of Thy truth in forgiveness before Thee, [to cleanse] them of their faults through Thy great goodness, and to establish them before Thee through the multitude of Thy mercies for ever and ever.

126For Thou art an eternal God; all Thy ways are determined for ever [and ever] and there is none other beside Thee. And what is a man of Naught and Vanity that he should understand Thy marvellous mighty deeds? Hymn 17 (formerly 13) [I thank] Thee, O God, for Thou hast not cast my lot in the congregation of Vanity, nor hast Thou placed {my decree} (4Q428 7) in the council of the cunning. [Thou hast] called me to Thy grace and to [Thy] forgiveness Thou hast brought me,

127and, by the multitude of Thy mercies, to all judgements of [righteousness. As for me, I am an] uncl[ean ma]n, and from the womb of her who conceived me I am an unclean man, and from the womb of her who has conceived me I am in sinful guilt, [and from the breast of my mother] in injustice, and in the bosom [of my nurse] in great impurity. And from my youth (I am) in blo[od, and until [my old age in the iniquity of the flesh. But Thou,] O my God, Thou hast established my feet in the way of Thy heart, and hast opened] my ears to [Thy wonderful] tidings, and my heart to understand Thy truth XVI (formerly VIII) for I have closed my ears to Thy teaching until... ... [without] knowledge hast Thou cut out of me, and glor[y] ... [no] more for me a stumbling-block of iniquity. For Thou dost rev[eal Thy salvation], and Thy righteousness is made firm for ever. For m[an] is not the master of his way, f[or] Thou hast done [all this for Thy glory.] Hymn 18 (formerly 14) I [thank Thee, O Lord, for] Thou hast placed me beside a fountain of streams in an arid land, and close to a spring of waters in a dry land, and beside a watered garden [in a wilderness].

128[For Thou didst set] a plantation of cypress, pine, and cedar for Thy glory, trees of life beside a mysterious fountain hidden among the trees by the water, and they put out a shoot of the everlasting Plant. But before they did so, they took root and sent out their roots to the watercourse that its stem might be open to the living waters and be one with the everlasting spring.

129And all [the beasts] of the forest fed on its leafy boughs; its stem was trodden by all who passed on the way and its branches by all the birds. And all the [trees] by the water rose above it for they grew in their plantation; but they sent out no root to the watercourse.

130And the bud of the shoot of holiness of the Plant of truth was hidden and was not esteemed; and being unperceived, its mystery was sealed. Thou didst hedge in its fruit, [O God], with the mystery of mighty Heroes and of spirits of holiness and of the whirling flame of fire.

131No [man shall approach] the well-spring of life or drink the waters of holiness with the everlasting trees, or bear fruit with [the Plant] of heaven, who seeing has not discerned, and considering has not believed

132in the fountain of life, who has turned [his hand against] the everlasting [bud].

133And I was despised by tumultuous rivers for they cast up their slime upon me.

134But Thou, O my God, hast put into my mouth as it were rain for all [those who thirst] and a fount of living waters which shall not fail. When they are opened they shall not run dry; they shall be a torrent [overflowing its banks] and like the [bottom]less seas. They shall suddenly gush forth which were hidden in secret, [and shall be like the waters of the Flood to every tree], both the green and the barren; to every beast and bird [they shall be an abyss. The trees shall sink like] lead in the mighty waters, fire [shall burn among them] and they shall be dried up; but the fruitful Plant [by the] everlasting [spring shall be] an Eden of glory [bearing] fruits [of life].

135By my hand Thou hast opened for them a well-spring and ditches, [that all their channels] may be laid out according to a certain measuring-cord, and the planting of their trees according to the plumb-line of the sun, that [their boughs may become a beautiful] Branch of glory.

136When I lift my hand to dig its ditches its roots shall run deep into hardest rock

137and its stem ... in the earth; in the season of heat it shall keep its strength. But if I take away my hand it shall be like a thistle [in the wilderness]; its stem shall be like nettles in a salty land, and thistles and thorns shall grow from its ditches, and brambles and briars. Its border [trees] shall be like the wild grapevine whose foliage withers before the heat, and its stem shall not be open to [the spring].

138[Behold, I am] carried away with the sick; [I am acquainted] with scourges. I am forsaken in [my sorrow] ... and without any strength. For my sore breaks out in bitter pains and in incurable sickness impossible to stay; [my heart laments] within me as in those who go down to Hell. My spirit is imprisoned with the dead for [my life] has reached the Pit; my soul languishes [within me] day and night without rest.

139My wound breaks out like burning fire shut up in [my bones], whose flames devour me for days on end, diminishing my strength for times on end and destroying my flesh for seasons on end. The pains fly out [towards me] and my soul within me languishes even to death. My strength has gone from my body and my heart runs out like water; my flesh is dissolved like wax and the strength of my loins is turned to fear.

140My arm is torn from its socket [and I can] lift my hand [no more];

141My [foot] is held by fetters and my knees slide like water; I can no longer walk. I cannot step forward lightly, [for my legs and arms] are bound by shackles which cause me to stumble. The tongue has gone back which Thou didst make marvellously mighty within my mouth; it can no longer give voice. [I have no word] for my disciples to revive the spirit of those who stumble and to speak words of support to the weary. My circumcised lips are dumb. XVII (formerly IX) [For] the throes of death [encompass me] and Hell is upon my bed; my couch utters a lamentation [and my pallet] the sound of a complaint. My eyes are like fire in the furnace and my tears like rivers of water; my eyes grow dim with waiting, [for my salvation] is far from me and my life is apart from me.

142But behold, from desolation to ruin, and from the pain to the sore, and from the travail to the throes, my soul meditates on Thy marvellous works. In Thy mercies Thou hast not cast me aside; season by season, my soul shall delight in the abundance of mercy. I will reply to him who slanders me

143and I will rebuke my oppressor; I will declare his sentence unjust and declare Thy judgement righteous.

144For I know by Thy truth, and I choose Thy judgement upon me: I delight in my scourges for I hope for Thy loving-kindness. Thou hast put a supplication in the mouth of Thy servant and Thou hast not threatened my life nor rejected my peace. Thou hast not failed my expectation, but hast upheld my spirit in face of the scourge.

145For it is Thou who hast founded my spirit and Thou knowest my intent; in my distress Thou hast comforted me. I delight in forgiveness, and am consoled for the former transgression; for I know there is hope in Thy grace and expectation in Thy great power. For no man can be just in Thy judgement or [righteous in] Thy trial. Though one man be more just than another, one person [more] wise [than another], one mortal more glorious than another creature [of clay], yet is there no power to compare with Thy might. There is no [bound] to Thy glory, and to Thy wisdom, no measure; [to Thy truth] there is no ... and all who forsake it ...

146and my oppressor shall [not] prevail against me. I will be a stumbling-block to [those who swallow me up,

147and a snare to] all those who battle against me; [I will be for my enemies a] cause of shame, and a cause of disgrace to those who murmur against me. For Thou, O my God ... Thou wilt plead my cause; for it is according to the mystery of Thy wisdom that Thou hast rebuked me.

148Thou wilt conceal the truth until [its] time, [and righteousness] until its appointed moment. Thy rebuke shall become my joy and gladness, and my scourges shall turn to [eternal] healing and everlasting [peace]. The scorn of my enemies shall become a crown of glory, and my stumbling (shall change) to everlasting might.

149For in Thy ... and my light shall shine forth in Thy glory. For as a light from out of the darkness, so wilt Thou enlighten me. [Thou wilt bring healing to] my wound, and marvellous might in place of my stumbling, and everlasting space to my straitened soul. For Thou art my refuge, my high mountain, my stout rock and my fortress; in Thee will I shelter from all the [designs of ungodliness, for Thou wilt succour me] with eternal deliverance.

150For Thou hast known me from (the time of) my father, [and hast chosen me] from the womb. [From the belly of] my mother Thou hast dealt kindly with me, and from the breast of her who conceived me have Thy mercies been with me.

151[Thy grace was with me] in the lap of her who reared me, and from my youth Thou hast illumined me with the wisdom of Thy judgement.

152Thou hast upheld me with certain truth; Thou hast delighted me with Thy Holy Spirit and [hast opened my heart] till this day. Thy just rebuke accompanies my [faults] and Thy safeguarding peace delivers my soul. The abundance of (Thy) forgiveness is with my steps and infinite mercy accompanies Thy judgement of me.

153Until I am old Thou wilt care for me; for my father knew me not and my mother abandoned me to Thee. For Thou art a father to all [the sons] of Thy truth, and as a woman who tenderly loves her babe, so dost Thou rejoice in them; and as a foster-father bearing a child in his lap so carest Thou for all Thy creatures. Hymn 19 (formerly 15) [I thank Thee, O Lord] XVIII (formerly X) ... and nothing exists except by Thy will; none can consider [Thy deep secrets] or contemplate Thy [mysteries].

154What then is man that is earth, that is shaped [from clay] and returns to the dust, that Thou shouldst give him to understand such marvels and make known to him the counsel of [Thy truth]?

155Clay and dust that I am,

156what can I devise unless Thou wish it, and what contrive unless Thou desire it? What strength shall I have unless Thou keep me upright, and how shall I understand unless by (the spirit) which Thou hast shaped for me? What can I say unless Thou open my mouth and how can I answer unless Thou enlighten me? Behold, Thou art Prince of gods and King of majesties, Lord of all spirits, and Ruler of all creatures; nothing is done without Thee, and nothing is known without Thy will.

157Beside Thee there is nothing, and nothing can compare with Thee in strength; in the presence of Thy glory there is nothing, and Thy might is without price.

158Who among Thy great and marvellous creatures can stand in the presence of Thy glory? How then can he who returns to his dust? For Thy glory's sake alone hast Thou made all these things. Hymn 20 (formerly 16) Blessed art Thou, O Lord, God of mercy [and abundant] grace, for Thou hast made known [Thy wisdom to me that I should recount] Thy marvellous deeds, keeping silence neither by day nor [by night]!

159[For I have trusted] in Thy grace. In Thy great goodness, and in [the multitude of Thy mercies]

160For I have leaned on Thy truth [And unless] Thou rebuke, there is no stumbling; unless Thou foreknow it, [there is no] scourge; [nothing is done without] Thy [will].

161[I will cling to Thy ways] according to my knowledge [of Thy] truth; contemplating Thy glory I will recount Thy wonderful works, and understanding [Thy goodness I will lean on the] multitude of Thy mercies and hope for Thy forgiveness.

162For Thou Thyself hast shaped [my spirit] and established me [according to Thy will]; and Thou hast not placed my support in gain, [nor does] my [heart delight in riches]; Thou hast given me no fleshly refuge. The might of warriors [rests] on abundant delights, [and on plenty of corn] and wine and oil; they pride themselves in possessions and wealth. [But the righteous is like a] green [tree] beside streams of water, bringing forth leaves and multiplying its branches; for [Thou hast chosen them from among the children of] men that they may all grow fat from the land.

163Thou wilt give to the children of Thy truth [unending joy and] everlasting [gladness], and according to the measure of their knowledge, so shall they be honoured one more than another.

164And likewise for the son of man ...

165Thou wilt increase his portion in the knowledge of Thy truth, and according to the measure of his knowledge, so shall he be honoured ... [For the soul] of Thy servant has loathed [riches] and gain, and he has not [desired] exquisite delights. My heart rejoices in Thy Covenant and Thy truth delights my soul. I shall flower [like the lily] and my heart shall be open to the everlasting fountain; my support shall be in the might from on high. But... and withers like a flower before [the heat]. My heart is stricken with terror, and my loins with trembling; my groaning goes down to the Abyss, and is shut up in the chambers of Hell. I am greatly afraid when I hear of Thy judgement of the mighty Heroes, and of Thy trial of the host of Thy Holy Ones XIX (formerly XI) Hymn 21 (formerly 17) I thank Thee, my God, for Thou hast dealt wondrously to dust, and mightily towards a creature of clay! I thank Thee, I thank Thee!

166What am I, that Thou shouldst [teach] me the counsel of Thy truth, and give me understanding of Thy marvellous works; that Thou shouldst lay hymns of thanksgiving within my mouth

167and [praise] upon my tongue, and that of my circumcised lips (Thou shouldst make) a seat of rejoicing?

168I will sing Thy mercies, and on Thy might I will meditate all day long. I will bless Thy Name evermore. I will declare Thy glory in the midst of the sons of men and my soul shall delight in Thy great goodness.

169I know that Thy word is truth, and that righteousness is in Thy hand; that all knowledge is in Thy purpose, and that all power is in Thy might, and that every glory is Thine. In Thy wrath are all chastisements, but in Thy goodness is much forgiveness and Thy mercy is towards the sons of Thy goodwill. For Thou hast made known to them the counsel of Thy truth, and hast taught them Thy marvellous mysteries.

170For the sake of Thy glory Thou hast purified man of sin that he may be made holy for Thee, with no abominable uncleanness and no guilty wickedness; that he may be one [with] the children of Thy truth and partake of the lot of Thy Holy Ones; that bodies gnawed by worms may be raised from the dust to the counsel [of Thy truth], and that the perverse spirit (may be lifted) to the understanding [which comes from Thee]; that he may stand before Thee with the everlasting host and with [Thy] spirits [of holiness],

171to be renewed together with all the living and to rejoice together with them that know. Hymn 22 (formerly 18) I thank Thee, my God! I praise Thee, my Rock! For Thou hast made known to me the counsel of Thy truth [and hast taught me Thy marvellous mysteries;] and hast revealed Thy [wonders] to me. I have beheld {Thy marvels} (4Q427 fr. 1, i) [towards the children] of grace, and I know [that] righteousness is Thine, that in Thy mercies there is [hope for me], but without Thy grace [destruction] without end. But a fountain of bitter mourning opens for me, [and my tears fall down]. Distress is not hidden from my eyes when I think of the (evil) inclinations of man, of his return [to dust], {I understand and observe} (4Q427 fr. 1, iii) sin and the sorrow of guilt. They enter my heart and reach into my bones to... and to meditate in sorrowful meditation. I will groan with the zither of lamentation in all grief-stricken mourning and bitter complaint until iniquity and [wickedness] are consumed and the disease-bringing scourge is no more. Then will I play on the zither of deliverance and the harp of joy, [on the tabors of prayer] and the pipe of praise without end.

172Who among all Thy creatures

173is able to recount [Thy wonders]? May Thy Name be praised by the mouth of all men! May they bless Thee for ever in accordance with [their understanding], and proclaim Thee with the voice of praise in the company of [the Sons of Heaven]! There shall be neither groaning nor complaint and wickedness [shall be destroyed for ever]; Thy truth shall be revealed in eternal glory and everlasting peace.

174Blessed art [Thou, O my Lord], who hast given to [Thy servant] the knowledge of wisdom that he may comprehend Thy wonders, and recount Thy ... in Thy abundant grace! Blessed art Thou, O God of mercy and compassion, for the might of Thy [power] and the greatness of Thy truth, and for the multitude of Thy favours in all Thy works! Rejoice the soul of Thy servant with Thy truth and cleanse me by Thy righteousness. Even as I have hoped in Thy goodness, and waited for Thy grace, so hast Thou freed me from my calamities in accordance with Thy forgiveness; and in my distress Thou hast comforted me for I have leaned on Thy mercy.

175Blessed art Thou, O Lord, for it is Thou who hast done these things! Thou hast set [hymns of praise]

176within the mouth of Thy servant, and hast established for me a response of the tongue. Hymn 23 (formerly 19) XX (formerly XII)

177... {with the ever[lasting] spirits} (4Q427, fr. 3 ii, 1. 4) securely in a dwelling {of peac[e,} (4Q427, fr. 2, 11. 1-2) in sil]ence and quietness in the tents of security and salvation.

178I will praise Thy Name among them that fear Thee. Bowing down in prayer I will beg Thy favours from season to season always:

179when light emerges from [its dwelling-place], and when the day reaches its appointed end in accordance with the laws of the Great Light of heaven; when evening falls and light departs at the beginning of the dominion of darkness, at the hour appointed for night, and at its end when morning returns and (the shadows) retire to their dwelling-place before the approach of light; always; at the genesis of every period and at the beginning of every age and at the end of every season, according to the statute and signs appointed to every dominion by the certain law from the mouth of God, by the precept which is and shall be for ever and ever without end. Without it nothing is nor shall be, for the God of knowledge established it

180and there is no other beside Him.

181I, the Master, know Thee O my God, by the spirit which Thou hast given to me, and by Thy Holy Spirit I have faithfully hearkened to Thy marvellous counsel. In the mystery of Thy wisdom Thou hast opened knowledge to me, and in Thy mercies [Thou hast unlocked for me] the fountain of Thy might. Before Thee no man is just ... [that he may] understand all Thy mysteries or give answer [to Thy rebuke. But the children of Thy grace shall delight in] Thy correction and watch for Thy goodness, for in Thy mercies [Thou wilt show Thyself to them] and they shall know Thee; at the time of Thy glory they shall rejoice. [Thou hast caused them to draw near] in accordance [with their knowledge], and hast admitted them in accordance with their understanding, and in their divisions they shall serve Thee throughout their dominion [without ever turning aside] from Thee or transgressing Thy word.

182Behold, [I was taken] from dust [and] fashioned [out of clay] as a source of uncleanness, and a shameful nakedness, a heap of dust, and a kneading [with water,] and a house of darkness,

183a creature of clay returning to dust, returning [at the appointed time to dwell] in the dust whence it was taken.

184How then shall dust reply to its Maker, [and how] understand His [works]? How shall it stand before Him who reproves it? [and the Spring of] Eternity, the Well of Glory and the Fountain of Knowledge. Not even [the wonderful] Heroes [can] declare all Thy glory or stand in face of Thy wrath, and there is none among them that can answer Thy rebuke; for Thou art just and none can oppose Thee. How then can (man) who returns to his dust?

185I hold my peace; what more shall I say than this? I have spoken in accordance with my knowledge, out of the righteousness given to a creature of clay. And how shall I speak unless Thou open my mouth; how understand unless Thou teach me? How shall I seek Thee unless Thou uncover my heart, and how follow the way that is straight unless [Thou guide me? How shall my foot] stay on [the path unless Thou] give it strength; and how shall I rise...

186XXI (formerly XVIII, 16-33+fr- 3) Hymn 24(formerly 25) [How] shall I look, unless Thou open my eyes?

187Or hear, [unless Thou unstop my ears]?

188My heart is astounded, for to the uncircumcised ear a word has been disclosed, and a heart [of stone has understood the right precepts].

189I know it is for Thyself that Thou hast done these things, O God; for what is flesh [that Thou shouldst act] marvellously [towards it]? It is Thy purpose to do mightily and to establish all things for Thy glory. [Thou hast created] the host of knowledge to declare (Thy) mighty deeds to flesh, and the right precepts to him that is born [of woman]. Thou hast [caused the perverse heart to enter] into a Covenant with Thee, and hast uncovered the heart of dust that it may be preserved from evil and saved from the snares of Judgement in accordance with Thy mercies.

190And I, a creature [of clay kneaded with water, a heap of dust] and a heart of stone, for what am I reckoned to be worthy of this? For into an ear of dust [Thou hast put a new word] and hast engraved on a heart of [stone] things everlasting. Thou hast caused [the straying spirit] to return that it may enter into a Covenant with Thee, and stand [before Thee for ever]

191in the everlasting abode, illumined with perfect Light for ever, with [no more] darkness, [for un]ending [seasons of joy] and un[numbered] ages of peace. And as for me, a creature of dust, ... Fr. 3 Pile of dust, how shall I stand in front of the tempest? ... and He will guard me according to the mysteries of His good pleasure. For He knows... And they will hide snares of wickedness, net after net. ... every creature of deceit will come to an end ... [wickedness will] turn to nothing and the inclination towards iniquity will vanish and deeds of deceit [will perish]. As for me, creature of [clay] ... ... how will it gain strength for Thee? Thou art the God of [knowledge] Thou hast made them [according to Thy design] and without Thee [nothing exists]. [As for me, creature] of dust, I know through the spirit which Thou hast put into me that ... injustice and deceit will be awe-struck and insolence will cease. [wo]rks of uncleanness will (turn into) sickness and judgements (leading to) plague and destruction ... XXII (formerly XVIII ii, 27-29+fr. I i+fr. 52 bottom+fr. 4+fr. 47) ... [hol]iness that are in heaven ... and He is wonder. But they cannot [understand] Thy [marvel]s and they will not be able to know all [Thy mysteries].

192[How then can he who retur]ns to his dust? As for me, I am a man of sin who has wallowed [in the ways of uncleanness] [and been defiled] by the guilt of wickedness. As for me, in the times of wrath [I have fallen(?)]. How can I rise in view of my wound and keep myself... For there is hope for man... As for me, creature of clay, I have leaned [on Thy loving-kindness and on the multitude of Thy mysteries,] O my God. And I know that truthful is [Thy mouth, and that Thy words are not] revoked. As for me, I will rely in my time [on Thy Covenant and will rai]se myself to the post which Thou hast established for me ... Fr. 4 ... As for me, I was frightened by Thy judgements Who is found clean in Thy judgement? And what is [man before Thee? Thou bringest] him to judgement and he returns to his dust. ... [my G]o[d]. Thou hast opened my heart for Thy understanding and hast unstopped [my] ear[s] ... to lean on Thy goodness. My heart murmurs ... and my heart melts like wax because of iniquity and sin.... Blessed art Thou, God of knowledge, who hast established... And Thou hast met Thy servant with this for Thy sake. For I know Thy [loving-kindness and in] Thy [mercies] I hope in all my existence,

193and I bless Thy name always. Do not forsake me in the times [of distress (?)] XXIII (formerly XVIII, 1-16+fr. 57 i+fr. 2 i) they are confirmed in [the ears] of Thy servant for ever ... [to announce] Thy marvellous tidings Withdraw not Thy hand ... that he may be confirmed in Thy Covenant and stand before Thee [for ever].

194[For Thou, O my God,] didst open a [fountain] in the mouth of Thy Servant. Thou didst engrave by the measuring-cord [Thy mysteries] upon his tongue, [that] out of his understanding [he might] preach to a creature, and interpret these things to dust like myself.

195Thou didst open [his fountain] that he might rebuke the creature of clay for his way, and him who is born of woman for the guilt of his deeds; that he might open [the fount of] Thy truth to a creature whom Thou upholdest by Thy might; [that he might be], according to Thy truth, a messenger [in the season] of Thy goodness; that to the humble he might bring glad tidings of Thy great mercy, [proclaiming salvation] from out of the fountain [of holiness to the contrite] of spirit, and everlasting joy to those who mourn. Fr. 2 ... [to prai]se Thee

196and to recount all Thy glory. As for me, what am I? For I was taken from dust. But Th[ou, O my God], Thou hast done all these [for] Thy [g]lory. According to the greatness of Thy loving-kindness put the guard of Thy righteousness [in the hand of Th]y [servant] for ever until deliverance. May the interpreters of knowledge be with all my steps and those who decide truth [in all my ways]. For what is dust among al[1] ... Ashes are in their hand: nothing at all. and Thou hast shed [Thy Holy] Spirit over dust [to bring him into the company] of the 'gods' and unite them with the Sons of Heaven. Thou hast shed Thy [Ho]ly [Spirit] to atone for guilt for they are established in Thy truth. [And Thou, my God], Thou hast acted wondrously for Thy glory 4Q427 7 i-ii (1QH, frs. 7, 46, 55, 56, 4Q428 15,40431 1) I... For I am made to stand with the 'gods', and I will not... [glory or majes]ty for me with fine gold; gold and purified gold, [I will] not... in me; ... will not be reckoned for me. Chant, O beloved, sing to the King [of glory. Rejoice, in the cong]regation of God. Exult in the tents of salvation. Give thanks in the dwelling [of holiness], extol together with the eternal host. Magnify our God and glorify our King.

197Sanctify His name with powerful lips and a victorious tongue. Lift up alone your voice in all ages, Let a joyous meditation be heard. Burst out in eternal rejoicings and prostrate incessantly in the common assembly. Bless the wonderful Maker of exalted things, Him who proclaims the power of His hand, sealing mysteries and revealing secrets, lifting up those who stumble and fall, [rest]oring the progress of those who hope for knowledge and humbling the meetings of the everlastingly haughty; [seal]ing the mysteries of sp[lendour] and establi[shing the wonlders of glory. O Judge, whose anger is destructive, ... in righteous loving-kindness and great mercy, be gracious to ... ... mercy to those who bear fruits of His great goodness, and the source of... II ... wickedness ends... [op]pression [ceases], the tyrant ceases... treachery [sto]ps and there are no senseless perversities. Light shines and joy bursts forth; mourning [vanishes] and sorrow flees. Peace is revealed, dread ceases. A spring has opened up for an [eternal] bles[sing] and for healing in all the everlasting ages. Iniquity has stopped, plague has ceased with no more illn[ess]. ... has been gathered in and... will be no more. Announce and say: Great is God, Ma[ker of marvels]. For He humbles the proud spirit with no remnant and from the dust He lifts up the poor to [eternal heights]. And He lifts him up to the clouds to share a common assembly with the 'gods'. And... anger for everlasting destruction.

198He raises freely the totterers on earth, and [His] mi[ght is with] their steps, and everlasting joy is in their dwellings, eternal glory without end [for ever].

199Let them say: Blessed be God, Author of majestic [w]onders, who reveals might splendidly, and justifies with knowledge all His creatures, so that goodness is on their faces. They know the multitude of [His] loving [kindness] and the abundance of His mercies to all the children of His truth. We know Thee, O God of righteousness, and we comprehend [Thy ... , O King] of glory. For we have seen Thy zeal through Thy mighty power and have observed [Thy] d[eeds in the abundance] of Thy mercies and wondrous forgiveness.

200What is flesh compared to these? What do [dust and ashes] amoun[t to] that they recite these things from age to age, and hold themselves upright [before Thee and enter into communion with] the Sons of Heaven. No interpreter can answer according to Thy mouth and... to Thee. For Thou hast established us according to [Thy] ple[asure] in the territory [of iniquity] ... ... we have spoken to Thee and not to a medi[ator] ... [And Thou hast lent] an ea[r] to the issue of our lips.

201Annou[nce and say: Blessed be God, Creator] of the heavens by His power, Desig[ner] of all their devices [by] His strength, of the earth by [His] migh[t] ...