96. Concerning the Prophecy about Christ

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the five mice46 which were given to Zion, and the ten47 figures of their shame (i.e. the emerods) which the nobles of the Philistines made for their redemption—now on the fringes are figures of gold that came forth from the land of ¬âdês, which Moses in Sinai commanded should be made (or, worked) in the fringe of the apparel of Aaron his brother—gather [all these] together in the covering of Zion and give [them] to my son David. For his mother said in [her] message by Tâmrîn her servant, ‘Give us some of the fringe of the covering of Zion, so that we may worship it, we and those who are in subjection unto us and all our kingdom.’ And now, give it to him, and say unto him, ‘Take [and] worship this covering of Zion, for thy mother sent a message concerning this, and hath said unto thee thyself, “Give us some of the fringe of its covering, which we can worship, so that we may not, like the heathen, worship another [god].” And Zion, the Tabernacle of the Law of God, shall be unto thee a guide wheresoever thou art. But it must remain with us perpetually, although we have not paid it all the honour which is its due; and you, although it be not with you, must honour it, and revere it according to what is due to it and what is meet. For God said unto Eli by the mouth of Samuel the Prophet, “I wished you to remain, thou and thy father’s house, to offer up incense to the Tabernacle of My Law, and to dwell before Me for ever, but now I have repented. I will turn My face away from thee because thou hast treated My offerings with contempt, and hast preferred thy sons to Me. And now, him that honoureth Me I will honour, and him that esteemeth Me lightly I will esteem lightly; and I will destroy all thy seed.” This He said because the Levites had esteemed Him lightly.48 And say unto him: Take this covering of Zion, and this votive gift shall be in the place of it, and place it in thy sanctuary. And when thou takest an oath and makest another to take an oath, swear thou and make him to swear by it, so that thou dost not make mention of the names of other gods of the heathen. And when thou

461 Samuel vi, 4. 47The text of Samuel (vi, 4) gives “five emerods.” 48I Samuel ii, 29–34.

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sacrificest let thy face be towards us, and sacrifice to Jerusalem and the holy Zion; and when thou prayest let thy face be towards Jerusalem, and pray towards us.’”

52. How Zadok the Priest Departed

And Zadok the priest went and gave David the covering of Zion, and he delivered unto him all the commands which Solomon had spoken. And David, the son of Solomon, rejoiced because of this, and he marvelled and held himself to be blessed exceedingly, and said, when the covering of the Tabernacle of the Law of God was committed to his charge, “This shall be to me my Lady.” And Azâryâs answered and said before his father, “Thou rejoicest over the covering, but how very much more wilt thou rejoice over the Lady of the covering!” And his father said unto him, “Verily he rejoiceth over the Lady of the covering, and he might subjugate all of us if he were not going to his own country.” And he said unto the king, “Make now a covenant with me that thou wilt give to this my son this possession for his Lady and his sponsor and his protection, that he may guard it all the days of his life, for himself and for his seed after him; and that thou wilt give him tithe, and that thou wilt give him a city of refuge in thy kingdom, and also the tenth of the cities in all thy kingdom; and that he shall be unto thee priest, and seer, and prophet, and teacher to thee and to thy seed after thee, and the anointer with oil of thy kingdom for thy children and thy children’s children.” And he said, “I agree.” And they struck (i.e. made) a covenant, and he received from his father the votive offering, and the covering of Zion, and a chain of gold.

And they loaded the wagons, and the horses, and the mules in order to depart, and they set out on their journey, prosperously, and they continued to travel on. And Michael the [Arch] Angel marched in front, and he spread out [his wings] and made them to march through the sea as upon dry land, and upon the dry land he cut a path for them and spreading himself out like a cloud over them he hid them from the fiery heat of the sun. And as for their wagons, no man hauled his wagon, but he himself (i.e. Michael) marched with the wagons, and whether it was men, or

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horses, or mules, or loaded camels, each was raised above the ground to the height of a cubit; and all those who rode upon beasts were lifted up above their backs to the height of one span of a man, and all the various kinds of baggage which were loaded on the beasts, as well as those who were mounted on them, were raised up to the height of one span of a man, and the beasts were lifted up to the height of one span of a man. And every one travelled in the wagons like a ship on the sea when the wind bloweth, and like a bat through the air when the desire of his belly urgeth him to devour his companions, and like an eagle when his body glideth above the wind. Thus did they travel; there was none in front and none behind, and they were disturbed neither on the right hand nor on the left.

53. How the Wagon was Given to Ethiopia

And they halted by Gâzâ, the city of the mother of the king, which Solomon the king had given to the Queen of Ethiopia when she came to him. And from there they came in one day to the border of Gëbës. (Egypt), the name of which is “Mesrîn.” And when the sons of the warriors of Israel saw that they had come in one day a distance of thirteen days’ march, and that they were not tired, or hungry, or thirsty, neither man nor beast, and that they all [felt] that they had eaten and drunk their fill, these sons of the warriors of Israel knew and believed that this thing was from God. And they said unto their king, “Let us let down the wagons, for we have come to the water of Ethiopia. This is the Takkazî which floweth down from Ethiopia, and watereth the Valley of Egypt”; and they let down their wagons there, and set up their tents.

And the sons of the warriors of Israel went and drove away all the people, and they said unto [David] their king, “Shall we tell thee a matter? Canst thou hold it [secret]?” And the King said unto them, “Yes, I can [hold it secret]. And if ye will tell it to me I will never let it go forth or repeat it to the day of my death.” And they said unto him, “The sun descended from heaven, and was given on Sinai to Israel, and it became the salvation of the race of Adam, from Moses to the seed of Jesse, and behold, it is with thee by the Will of God. It is not through us that this hath been done, but by the

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Will of God; it is not through us that this hath been done, but by the Will of Him that fashioned it and made it hath this happened. We wished, and God hath fulfilled [our wish]; we agreed concerning it, and God made it good; we held converse [concerning it], and God performed; we meditated [upon it], and God devised the plan; we spoke, and God was well pleased; we directed our gaze, and God directed it rightly; we meditated, and God hath justified. And now God hath chosen thee, and is well pleased with thy city, to be the servant of the holy and heavenly Zion, the Tabernacle of the Law of God; and it shall be to thee a guide for ever, to thee and thy seed after thee if thou wilt keep His command and perform the Will of the Lord thy God. For thou wilt not be able to take it back, even if thou wishest, and thy father cannot seize it, even if he wisheth, for it goeth of its own free will whithersoever it wisheth, and it cannot be removed from its seat if it doth not desire it. And behold, it is our Lady, our Mother and our salvation, our fortress and our place of refuge, our glory and the haven of our safety, to those who lean upon it.”

And Azâryâs made a sign to Êlmeyâs, and he said unto him, “Go, beautify, and dress our Lady, so that our King may see her.” And when Azâryâs had said this, King David was perturbed and he laid both hands upon his breast, and he drew breath three times and said, “Hast thou in truth, O Lord, remembered us in Thy mercy, the castaways, the people whom Thou hast rejected, so that I may see Thy pure habitation, which is in heaven, the holy and heavenly Zion? With what shall we requite the Lord in return for all the good things which He hath done for us? there being with Him no glory and praise! He hath crowned us with His grace, so that we may know upon earth His praise and may all serve Him according to His greatness. For He is the Good One to His chosen ones, and unto Him belongeth praise for ever.”

And King [David] rose up and skipped about like a young sheep and like a kid of the goats that hath sucked milk in abundance from his mother, even as his grandfather David rejoiced before the Tabernacle of the Law of God. He smote the ground with his feet, and rejoiced in his heart, and uttered cries of joy with his mouth. And what shall I say of the great joy and gladness that were in the camp of the King of Ethiopia? One man told

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