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1 And now, listen, all you who know righteousness, and consider the works of 2 God. For he has a dispute with all flesh, and he will carry out judgment on all who spurn him. 3 For when they were unfaithful and abandoned him, he hid his face from Israel and from his sanctuary 4 and gave them over to the sword. But when he remembered the covenant of the first ones, he left a remnant 5 for Israel and did not give them over to destruction. And in the age of wrath, three hundred 6 and ninety years after he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, 7 he visited them, and he made a root of planting sprout from Israel and from Aaron, to possess 8 his land and to grow fat on the goodness of his soil. And they considered their iniquity and knew that 9 they were guilty men. But they were like the blind and like those who grope for the way 10 for twenty years. And God considered their deeds, for they sought him with a whole heart, 11 and he raised up for them a teacher of righteousness, to guide them in the way of his heart. And he made known 12 to the last generations what he did in the last generation to the congregation of traitors. 13 They are those who turn from the way. This is the time about which it was written, “Like a stubborn heifer, 14 so Israel was stubborn,” when the man of mockery arose, who poured out on Israel 15 waters of falsehood and led them astray in a trackless waste, to bring low the everlasting heights and to turn aside 16 from the paths of righteousness, and to move the boundary that the first ones had marked out in their inheritance, so that 17 the curses of his covenant would cling to them, handing them over to the sword that carries out the vengeance of 18 the covenant. For they sought smooth things and chose illusions and watched 19 for breaches, and they chose the fair neck, and they declared the wicked righteous and the righteous wicked. 20 They transgressed the covenant and broke the statute, and they banded together against the life of the righteous, and all who walk 21 in perfection their soul detested. They pursued them with the sword and rejoiced in the strife of the people. And the anger of
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1 God burned against their congregation, to lay waste all their multitude, and their works were impurity before him. 2 And now, listen to me, all who enter the covenant, and I will uncover your ear concerning the ways of 3 the wicked. God loves knowledge; wisdom and sound counsel he has set before him; 4 prudence and knowledge serve him. Patience is with him, and abundant forgiveness, 5 to atone for those who turn back from transgression; but strength and might and great wrath with flames of fire 6 by the hand of all the angels of destruction against those who turn from the way and detest the statute, with no remnant 7 or survivor for them. For God did not choose them from of old, from eternity, and before they were established he knew 8 their works. And he detested the generations of blood and hid his face from the land, 9 from Israel, until they were finished. And he knew the years of their standing and the number and the exact account of their ages, for all 10 who exist through the ages, and what will be, as far as what will come in their ages, for all the years of eternity. 11 And in all of them he raised up for himself men called by name, so as to leave a remnant for the land and to fill 12 the face of the world with their seed. And he made known to them by the hand of those anointed with his holy spirit, and the prophets of 13 truth, and with exactness he set down their names. But those whom he hated he led astray. 14 And now, sons, listen to me, and I will uncover your eyes to see and to understand the works of 15 God, and to choose what pleases him and to reject what he hates, to walk perfectly 16 in all his ways and not to stray after the thoughts of a guilty inclination and eyes of fornication. For many 17 have gone astray through them, and mighty warriors have stumbled through them, from of old until now. [1]Because they walked in the stubbornness of 18 their heart, the Watchers of heaven fell; they were caught by it, because they did not keep the commandments of God. 19 And their sons, whose height was like the height of cedars and whose bodies were like mountains, fell. 20 All flesh that was on dry land perished, and they were as though they had not been, because they did 21 their own will and did not keep the commandments of their maker, until his anger burned against them.
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1 Through it the sons of Noah went astray, and their families; through it they were cut off. 2 Abraham did not walk in it, and he was counted a friend, because he kept the commandments of God and did not choose 3 the will of his own spirit. And he handed them on to Isaac and to Jacob, and they kept them and were written down as friends 4 of God and partners in the covenant forever. The sons of Jacob went astray through them and were punished according to 5 their errors. And their sons in Egypt walked in the stubbornness of their heart, taking counsel against 6 the commandments of God and each doing what was right in his own eyes. And they ate blood, and he cut off 7 their males in the wilderness. He said to them at Kadesh, “Go up and possess the land,” but they chose the will of their spirit and did not listen 8 to the voice of their maker, the commandments of their teacher, and they grumbled in their tents. And the anger of God burned 9 against their congregation. And their sons perished by it, and their kings were cut off by it, and their warriors 10 perished by it, and their land was made desolate by it. By it the first ones who entered the covenant became guilty, and they were handed over 11 to the sword, because they abandoned the covenant of God and chose their own will and strayed after the stubbornness of 12 their heart, each doing his own will. But with those who held fast to the commandments of God, 13 who were left of them, God established his covenant with Israel forever, revealing 14 to them the hidden things in which all Israel had gone astray: his holy sabbaths and his glorious 15 festivals, his righteous testimonies and his true ways, and the desires of his will, which a person shall do 16 and live by them. He opened these before them, and they dug a well of plentiful water, 17 and whoever rejects it shall not live. But they wallowed in human transgression and in ways of impurity, 18 and they said, “This is ours.” But God, in his wonderful mysteries, atoned for their iniquity and forgave their transgression, 19 and he built for them a sure house in Israel, the like of which has not stood from of old until 20 now. Those who hold fast to it are destined for everlasting life, and all the glory of Adam is theirs, as 21 God established for them by the hand of Ezekiel the prophet, saying, “The priests and the Levites and the sons of
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1 Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the sons of Israel strayed 2 from me, they shall offer me fat and blood.” The priests are the returnees of Israel 3 who went out from the land of Judah, and the Levites are those who joined them. And the sons of Zadok are the chosen ones of 4 Israel, those called by name, who stand in the last days. Here is the exact list of 5 their names by their generations, and the time of their standing, and the number of their troubles, and the years of 6 their sojourning, and the exact account of their deeds. The first holy ones, for whom 7 God atoned, declared the righteous righteous and the wicked wicked. And all who come after them, 8 acting according to the exact meaning of the law in which the first ones were instructed, until the completion of 9 the age of these years: according to the covenant that God established with the first ones, to atone 10 for their iniquities, so God will atone for them. And when the age is complete, by the number of these 11 years, there will be no more joining the house of Judah, but each one will stand on 12 his watchtower. The wall is built; the statute is far away. And in all these years 13 Belial will be let loose against Israel, as God spoke by the hand of Isaiah the prophet, son of 14 Amoz, saying, “Terror and pit and snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the land.” Its interpretation: 15 the three nets of Belial, about which Levi son of Jacob spoke, 16 with which he catches Israel, and he makes them appear to them as three kinds of 17 righteousness. The first is fornication, the second is wealth, the third is 18 defiling the sanctuary. Whoever climbs out of one is caught in another, and whoever is delivered from one is caught 19 in another. The builders of the wall, who walked after Zaw (Zaw is a spouter, 20 of whom it says, “They shall surely spout”), are caught in two: in fornication, by taking 21 two wives in their lifetime, [2]whereas the foundation of creation is “male and female he created them.”
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1 And those who entered the ark “went two by two into the ark.” And about the prince it is written, 2 “He shall not multiply wives for himself.” But David had not read the sealed book of the law that 3 was in the ark, for it had not been opened in Israel since the day of the death of Eleazar 4 and Joshua and the elders, because they served the Ashtoreth. And it was hidden 5 and not revealed until Zadok arose. And the deeds of David were lifted up, except for the blood of Uriah, 6 and God left them to him. And they also defile the sanctuary, in that they do not 7 separate according to the law, and they lie with a woman who sees the blood of her discharge. [3]And they take, 8 each one, the daughter of his brother and the daughter of his sister. But Moses said, “To 9 your mother’s sister you shall not draw near; she is your mother’s kin.” The rule about forbidden unions is written for males, 10 and women are like them. So if a brother’s daughter uncovers the nakedness of the brother of 11 her father, she is kin. And they also defiled their holy spirit, and with a tongue of 12 blasphemies they opened their mouth against the statutes of the covenant of God, saying, “They are not sure.” And an abomination 13 they speak against them. All of them are kindlers of fire and lighters of brands; webs of 14 a spider are their webs, and eggs of vipers are their eggs. Whoever comes near them 15 will not be held innocent; the more he does so, the guiltier he is, unless he was forced. For from of old 16 God visited their works, and his anger burned against their deeds, for it is not a people of understanding. 17 They are a nation lacking counsel, because there is no understanding in them. [4]For in ancient times there arose 18 Moses and Aaron by the hand of the Prince of Lights, and Belial raised up Jannes and 19 his brother in his cunning, when Israel was saved the first time. 20 And in the age of the devastation of the land there arose those who moved the boundary, and they led Israel astray. 21 And the land became desolate, for they spoke rebellion against the commandments of God given by the hand of Moses, and also
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1 against the holy anointed ones. And they prophesied falsehood, to turn Israel away from following 2 God. But God remembered the covenant of the first ones, and he raised up from Aaron men of understanding, and from Israel 3 wise men, and he made them hear. [5]And they dug the well: “The well that princes dug, that 4 the nobles of the people excavated with a staff.” The well is the law, and those who dug it are 5 the returnees of Israel who went out from the land of Judah and sojourned in the land of Damascus, 6 all of whom God called princes, for they sought him, and their renown was not 7 turned back by the mouth of anyone. And the staff is the interpreter of the law, of whom 8 Isaiah said, “He brings out a tool for his work.” And the nobles of the people are 9 those who come to excavate the well with the staffs that the staff decreed, 10 to walk by them in the whole age of wickedness; and without them they will not attain it, until there arises 11 one who teaches righteousness in the last days. And all who were brought into the covenant 12 are not to enter the sanctuary to kindle his altar in vain. They shall be those who close 13 the door, of whom God said, “Who among you will close my door, so that you do not kindle my altar 14 in vain?” They shall take care to act according to the exact meaning of the law for the age of wickedness: to separate 15 from the sons of the pit; to keep away from the unclean wealth of wickedness, got by vow and by ban, 16 and from the wealth of the sanctuary; not to rob the poor of his people, making widows their spoil 17 and murdering orphans; to distinguish between the impure and the pure, and to make known the difference between 18 the holy and the common; to keep the sabbath day according to its exact meaning, and the festivals 19 and the day of the fast, as it was found by those who entered the new covenant in the land of Damascus; 20 to set apart the holy things according to their exact meaning; for each to love his brother 21 as himself; to hold the hand of the poor and the needy and the sojourner; for each to seek the peace of
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1 his brother; for no one to be unfaithful to his own flesh and blood; to keep away from fornication 2 according to the rule; for each to reprove his brother according to the commandment, and not to bear a grudge 3 from one day to the next; to separate from all impurities according to their rule; and for no one to defile 4 his holy spirit, as God set them apart. All who walk 5 in these in holy perfection, according to all his instruction, the covenant of God stands firm for them, 6 to give them life for a thousand generations. And if they live in camps, according to the rule of the land, and take 7 wives and father sons, they shall walk according to the law and according to the rule of 8 the instructions, according to the rule of the law, as it says, “between a man and his wife, and between a father 9 and his son.” But all who reject: when God visits the land, to bring back the reward of the wicked 10 upon them, when there comes the word that is written in the words of Isaiah son of Amoz the prophet, 11 who said, “There will come upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house days that have not 12 come since the day Ephraim turned away from Judah.” When the two houses of Israel separated, 13 Ephraim turned away from Judah, and all who turned back were handed over to the sword, but those who held fast 14 escaped to the land of the north. [6]As it says, “And I will exile the Sikkut of your king 15 and the Kiyyun of your images from my tent to Damascus.” The books of the law are the booth of 16 the king, as it says, “And I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen.” The king 17 is the assembly. And the pedestals of the images, and the Kiyyun of the images, are the books of the prophets, 18 whose words Israel despised. And the star is the interpreter of the law 19 who comes to Damascus, as it is written, “A star marches out of Jacob, and a scepter rises 20 out of Israel.” The scepter is the prince of all the congregation, and when he arises he will tear down 21 all the sons of Seth. These escaped in the age of the first visitation,
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1 but those who turned back were handed over to the sword. And such is the judgment for all who enter his covenant who 2 do not hold fast to these: they will be visited for destruction by the hand of Belial. That is the day 3 when God will visit. The princes of Judah were those on whom you will pour out wrath, 4 for they hope for healing, but the blemish clings. All are rebels, because they did not turn from the way of 5 traitors, and they wallowed in the ways of fornication and in the wealth of wickedness, taking revenge and bearing a grudge 6 each against his brother, and each hating his fellow. And each hid himself from his own flesh and blood, 7 and they drew near for depravity and grew mighty for wealth and gain, and each did what was right in his own eyes. 8 And each chose the stubbornness of his heart, and they did not keep apart from the people. And they cast off restraint with a high hand, 9 walking in the way of the wicked, about whom God said, “Their wine is the venom of serpents 10 and the cruel head of asps.” The serpents are the kings of the peoples, and their wine is 11 their ways, and the head of asps is the head of the kings of Greece, who comes to carry out 12 vengeance on them. But all these things the builders of the wall and the daubers of whitewash did not understand, for 13 one who weighs wind and spouts lies spouted to them, so that the anger of God burned against all his congregation. 14 And as for what Moses said, “Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to dispossess 15 these nations, but because he loved your fathers and because he kept the oath”: 16 such is the judgment for the returnees of Israel, who turned aside from the way of the people. Because God loved 17 the first ones, who bore witness after him, he loves those who come after them, for theirs is 18 the covenant of the fathers. But because he hates the builders of the wall, his anger burned. And such is the judgment 19 for everyone who rejects the commandments of God and abandons them, and they turn away in the stubbornness of their heart. 20 This is the word that Jeremiah spoke to Baruch son of Neriah, and Elisha 21 to Gehazi his servant. All the men who entered the new covenant in the land of Damascus
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1 Every man who puts another man under the ban by the statutes of the nations is to be put to death. 2 And as for what it says, “You shall not take revenge or bear a grudge against the sons of your people”: every man of those who enter 3 the covenant who brings a matter against his fellow that was not with reproof before witnesses, 4 or brings it in his burning anger, or tells it to his elders to bring him into contempt, is one who takes revenge and bears a grudge. 5 But nothing is written except “He takes revenge on his adversaries and bears a grudge against his enemies.” 6 If he kept silent toward him from one day to the next, and then in his burning anger against him spoke against him in a capital matter, 7 he has testified against himself, since he did not carry out the commandment of God, who said to him, “You shall surely 8 reprove your neighbor, and you shall not bear sin because of him.” Concerning the oath: as for what 9 it says, “Your own hand shall not save you,” a man who makes another swear in the open field, 10 not before the judges or at their word, his own hand has saved him. And everything that is lost, 11 and it is not known who stole it from the property of the camp in which it was stolen, its owner shall pronounce 12 an oath of cursing, and whoever hears, if he knows and does not tell, is guilty. 13 All guilt that is to be restored, when there are no owners: the one who restores shall confess to the priest, 14 and it shall be his, apart from the ram of the guilt offering. And likewise, every lost thing that is found and has no 15 owners shall belong to the priests, for the one who found it does not know its rule. 16 If no owners are found for it, they shall keep it. Any matter in which a man is unfaithful 17 to the law, and his fellow sees it, and he is alone: if it is a capital matter, he shall make it known 18 in his presence, with reproof, to the overseer, and the overseer shall write it down with his own hand, until he does it 19 again before one witness, who again makes it known to the overseer. If he does it again and is caught before 20 one witness, his judgment is complete. But if they are two, and they testify about 21 different matters, the man shall only be separated from the purity, if they are trustworthy, 22 and on the day when a man sees it he shall make it known to the overseer. And concerning property, they shall accept two 23 trustworthy witnesses, and on the word of one, to separate him from the purity. And there shall not be accepted
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1 a witness by the judges, to put to death at his word, whose days are not complete so as to pass 2 over to those enrolled, one who fears God. No one shall be believed against his fellow 3 as a witness who transgresses anything of the commandment with a high hand, until he is purified to return. 4 And this is the rule for the judges of the congregation: as many as ten men, chosen 5 from the congregation for the time, four from the tribe of Levi and Aaron, and from Israel 6 six, learned in the Book of Hagi and in the foundations of the covenant, from twenty-five 7 years old to sixty years old. And no one shall take his place any more from the age of 8 sixty years and upward to judge the congregation, for because of the unfaithfulness of humankind 9 his days have grown few, and in the burning anger of God against the inhabitants of the earth he said to take away 10 their knowledge before they complete their days. Concerning purification with water: no 11 one shall bathe in water that is dirty or less than enough to cover a man. 12 No one shall purify a vessel in it. And any pool in a rock in which there is not enough 13 to cover, which an impure person has touched, its water is impure like the water of a vessel. 14 Concerning the sabbath, to keep it according to its rule: no one shall do, on the sixth 15 day, any work from the time when the disk of the sun is 16 distant from the gate by its fullness. For that is what it says: “Keep the 17 sabbath day, to sanctify it.” And on the sabbath day no one shall speak a 18 foolish or empty word. He shall not lend anything to his fellow. He shall not judge about wealth and gain. 19 He shall not speak about matters of work and labor to be done the next morning. 20 No one shall walk about in the field to do the work he desires 21 on the sabbath. He shall not walk outside his city more than a thousand cubits. 22 No one shall eat on the sabbath day anything except what is prepared; and of what is lying lost 23 in the field he shall not eat. And he shall not drink unless he was in the camp.
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1 On the road, if he goes down to bathe, he may drink where he stands, but he shall not draw water into 2 any vessel. He shall not send a foreigner to do what he desires on the sabbath day. 3 No one shall put on dirty clothes, or clothes brought from storage, unless 4 they have been washed in water or rubbed with frankincense. No one shall mingle with others of his own will 5 on the sabbath. No one shall walk after an animal to pasture it outside his city more 6 than two thousand cubits. He shall not raise his hand to strike it with a fist. If 7 it is stubborn, he shall not take it out of his house. No one shall carry anything out of the house 8 to the outside, or from the outside into a house. And if he is in a booth, he shall not carry anything out of it 9 or bring anything into it. He shall not open a sealed vessel on the sabbath. No one shall carry 10 spices on himself, going out and coming in on the sabbath. He shall not lift, in the house where he lives, 11 a stone or dust. The nurse shall not carry the infant, going out and coming in on the sabbath. 12 No one shall provoke his male slave or his female slave or his hired worker on the sabbath. 13 No one shall help an animal give birth on the sabbath day. And if it falls into a pit 14 or a ditch, he shall not raise it on the sabbath. No one shall rest in a place near 15 to the nations on the sabbath. No one shall profane the sabbath for wealth and gain on the sabbath. 16 And any human being who falls into a place of water or into a place of 17 …, no one shall bring him up with a ladder or a rope or a tool. No one shall offer anything on the altar on the sabbath 18 except the burnt offering of the sabbath, for so it is written: “apart from your sabbaths.” No one shall send 19 to the altar a burnt offering or a grain offering or frankincense or wood by the hand of a man impure with any 20 of the impurities, allowing him to defile the altar, for it is written, “The sacrifice of 21 the wicked is an abomination, but the prayer of the righteous is like an acceptable offering.” And everyone who enters 22 the house of prostration shall not enter impure, in need of washing. And when the trumpets of the assembly sound, 23 let him come earlier or later, and they shall not stop the whole service, for it
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1 is holy. No one shall lie with a woman in the city of the sanctuary, defiling 2 the city of the sanctuary with their impurity. Every man over whom the spirits of Belial rule, 3 and who speaks rebellion, shall be judged according to the rule of the ghost and the familiar spirit. But everyone who goes astray 4 so as to profane the sabbath and the festivals shall not be put to death, for it is for the sons of Adam 5 to guard him. And if he is healed of it, they shall guard him for seven years, and afterward 6 he shall enter the assembly. No one shall stretch out his hand to shed the blood of a man from the nations 7 for the sake of wealth and gain. And also, he shall not carry off any of their wealth, so that they do not 8 blaspheme, except by the counsel of the association of Israel. No one shall sell clean beasts 9 or birds to the nations, so that they do not sacrifice them. And from his threshing floor 10 and from his winepress he shall not sell to them, with all his might. And his male slave and his female slave he shall not sell 11 to them, since they entered with him into the covenant of Abraham. No one shall defile his soul 12 with any living thing or creeping thing by eating of them, from the larvae of bees to every living 13 creature that creeps in the water. And fish they shall not eat unless they were split open 14 alive and their blood was poured out. And all the locusts, in their kinds, shall be put into fire or into water 15 while they are still alive, for that is the rule of their creation. And all the wood and the stones 16 and the dust that are defiled by human impurity, by defilements of oil on them, according to 17 their impurity whoever touches them becomes impure. And every tool, nail, or peg in the wall 18 that is with the dead in the house becomes impure with the same impurity as a working tool. 19 The rule for the settlement of the cities of Israel: by these judgments, to distinguish between 20 the impure and the pure and to make known the difference between the holy and the common. And these are the statutes 21 for the instructor, to walk in them with every living person according to the rule for each time. And according to this rule 22 the seed of Israel shall walk, and they will not be cursed. And this is the rule for the settlement of 23 the camps, those who walk in these in the age of wickedness until there arises the messiah of Aaron
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1 and Israel: as many as ten men at the least, by thousands and hundreds and fifties 2 and tens. And in a place of ten there shall not be lacking a priest learned in the Book of Hagi. At 3 his word they shall all be ruled. And if he is not experienced in all these, and a man of the Levites is experienced 4 in these, the lot shall fall for all who enter the camp to go out and come in at his word. And if 5 there is a judgment about the law of skin disease on a man, the priest shall come and stand in the camp, and the overseer shall instruct him 6 in the exact meaning of the law. And even if he is simple, he shall shut him up, for theirs is 7 the judgment. And this is the rule for the overseer of the camp: he shall instruct the many in the works of 8 God and make them understand his wondrous mighty deeds, and recount before them the events of eternity with their interpretations. 9 He shall have mercy on them like a father on his sons, and he shall watch over all their distress like a shepherd his flock. 10 He shall loosen all the bonds that bind them, so that there is no one oppressed or crushed in his congregation. 11 And everyone who is added to his congregation he shall examine for his deeds and his understanding and his strength and his might and his wealth, 12 and they shall write him in his place according to his inheritance in the lot of light. No one 13 of the sons of the camp shall have authority to bring a man into the congregation apart from the word of the overseer of the camp. 14 And no one of all those who have entered the covenant of God shall buy from or sell to the sons of dawn, except 15 hand to hand. And no one shall do anything in buying or selling unless he has made it known 16 to the overseer of the camp, and he shall act with counsel, and they shall not [go astray. And likewise for] everyone who takes a wife, 17 and … counsel. And likewise for one who divorces. And he shall instruct [their sons and their daughters] 18 [and their little ones in a spirit of] humility and with loving kindness. He shall not bear a grudge against them [in anger …] 19 [… their] transgressions, and whoever is not bound by … […] 20 […] And this is the settlement of the camps for the whole [age of wickedness. And those who] 21 [do not hold fast to] these will not succeed in dwelling in the land in […] 22 [… And] these are the … for the instructor, [to walk in them with every living person] 23 [according to the rule for each time, as it says, “There will come upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house days]
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1 that have not come since the day Ephraim turned away from Judah.” And all who walk in these, 2 the covenant of God stands firm for them, to deliver them from all the snares of the pit, for the simple pass on and are punished. 3 And the rule for the settlement of all the camps: they shall all be enrolled by their names, the priests first, 4 the Levites second, the sons of Israel third, and the proselyte fourth. And they shall be written by their names, 5 each after his brother: the priests first, the Levites second, the sons of Israel 6 third, and the proselyte fourth. And so they shall sit, and so they shall be asked about everything. And the priest who is appointed 7 at the head of the many shall be from thirty years old to sixty, learned in the Book of 8 Hagi and in all the judgments of the law, to speak them according to their rule. And the overseer who is 9 over all the camps shall be from thirty years old to fifty years old, master of every 10 secret of men and of every tongue according to their families. At his word those who enter the congregation shall enter, 11 each in his turn. And anything that any person has to say, let him say it to the overseer, 12 about any dispute or judgment. [7]And this is the rule for the many, to provide for all their needs: the wages of 13 two days each month at the least, and they shall put it into the hand of the overseer and the judges. 14 From it they shall give for their wounded, and from it they shall support the poor and the needy, and the old man who 15 is bowed down, and the man who is afflicted, and the one taken captive by a foreign nation, and the virgin who 16 has no redeemer, and the youth who has no one to care for him: all the service of the association, and not 17 [shall the house of the association be cut off from] their [hand]. And this is the exact account of the settlement of the [camp, and these are the foundations of] 18 [the walls of the] assembly. And this is the exact account of the judgments by which [they shall be judged in the age of] 19 [wickedness, until there arises the messiah] of Aaron and Israel and atones for their iniquity, [a grain offering and a sin offering …] 20 […] And whoever lies about money, and he knows it, shall be [separated …] 21 [… and] punished for six days. And whoever speaks […] 22 [and whoever bears a grudge against his fellow] unjustly [shall be punished] … […] 23 […] … […] … […] … […]
Column 15
1 he shall swear, neither by Aleph and Lamed nor by Aleph and Daleth, but only with the oath of the sons, 2 by the curses of the covenant. And the law of Moses he shall not mention, for in it is the full spelling of the name. 3 And if he swears and transgresses, he profanes the name. And if by the curses of the covenant he swears [before] 4 the judges, if he transgresses, he is guilty; and he shall confess and make restitution, and he will not bear sin 5 and die. And whoever enters the covenant, for all Israel as an eternal statute: their sons who reach the age 6 to pass over to those enrolled shall be bound by the oath of the covenant. And such is 7 the rule in the whole age of wickedness for everyone who turns back from his corrupt way. On the day when he speaks 8 with the overseer of the many, they shall enroll him by the oath of the covenant that Moses 9 made with Israel, his word to return to the law of Moses with all the heart and with all 10 the soul, to what is found to be done in the whole age of his approach. And no one shall make known to him 11 the judgments until he stands before the overseer, lest he prove simple when he examines him. 12 And when he binds himself to return to the law of Moses with all the heart and with all the soul, 13 they are innocent of him if he proves unfaithful. And everything that is revealed from the law to the multitude of 14 the camp, and he erred in it, the overseer shall make it known to him and give orders about him, and he shall learn 15 for a full year, and according to his knowledge he shall be. A fool and a madman and every simpleton and one who errs, 16 and one whose eyes are dim so that [he cannot see, and the lame or the limping or the deaf,] and a young boy: none 17 of [these] shall enter [into the midst of the congregation, for the holy angels are in your midst …] … in them 18 [… he] said to them 19 […] …
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1 with you a covenant, and with all Israel. Therefore a man shall bind himself to return to 2 the law of Moses, for in it everything is laid out exactly. And the exact account of their ages, for the blindness of 3 Israel to all these, behold, it is laid out exactly in the Book of the Divisions of the Times 4 by their jubilees and in their weeks. And on the day when a man binds himself to return 5 to the law of Moses, the angel of hostility will turn away from following him, if he keeps his words. 6 Therefore Abraham was circumcised on the day he knew. And as for what it says, “What comes out of your lips 7 you shall keep,” to carry it out: every binding oath by which a man binds himself 8 to do anything from the law, even at the price of death, he shall not redeem. Anything by which 9 a man binds himself to turn away from the law, even at the price of death, he shall not carry out. 10 Concerning the oath of a woman: as for what it says, that it is for her husband to annul her oath, no 11 one shall annul an oath when he does not know whether it should be carried out or annulled. 12 If it is to transgress the covenant, he shall annul it and not carry it out. And such is the rule for her father. 13 Concerning the rule for freewill gifts: no one shall vow to the altar anything taken by force. And also 14 the priests shall not take from Israel [anything taken by force. No] one shall consecrate the food of 15 his mouth [to] God, for that is what it says: “Each hunts his fellow with a ban.” And no 16 one shall consecrate any of … […] … [… And if] of the field of his possession 17 he consecrates to [God, this rule] also [… and] he shall be punished, 18 the one who vows [the … silver of his valuation …] 19 for the judges, [to judge justly and to assess … after the one who confesses …] 20 If [it was taken by force, the one who took it shall pay, if he did not speak the truth with his fellow …]
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1 stands firm for them, to give them life for thousands of generations, as it is written, “He keeps the covenant and the kindness 2 for those who love me and keep my commandments for a thousand generations.” And if they live in camps, according to the rule of 3 the land that was from of old, and take wives according to the custom of the law and father sons, 4 they shall walk according to the law and according to the rule of the instructions, according to the rule of the law, 5 as it says, “between a man and his wife, and between a father and his son.” But all who reject the commandments 6 and the statutes, the reward of the wicked will be brought back upon them when God visits the land, 7 when there comes the word that is written by the hand of Zechariah the prophet: “Sword, awake against 8 my shepherd and against the man who is my companion, declares God. Strike the shepherd, and the flock will be scattered, 9 and I will turn my hand against the little ones.” And those who watch him are the poor of the flock. 10 These will escape in the age of the visitation, but those who remain will be handed over to the sword when the messiah of 11 Aaron and Israel comes, as it was in the age of the first visitation, of which he spoke 12 by the hand of Ezekiel: “to set the sign on the foreheads of those who sigh and groan.” 13 But those who remained were handed over to the sword that carries out the vengeance of the covenant. And such is the judgment for all who enter 14 his covenant who do not hold fast to these statutes: they will be visited for destruction by the hand of Belial. 15 That is the day when God will visit, as he said, “The princes of Judah were like those who move 16 the boundary; on them I will pour out wrath like water.” For they entered a covenant of repentance, 17 but they did not turn from the way of traitors, and they wallowed in the ways of fornication and in the wealth of wickedness, 18 taking revenge and bearing a grudge each against his brother, and each hating his fellow. And each hid himself 19 from his own flesh and blood, and they drew near for depravity and grew mighty for wealth and gain, and each did 20 what was right in his own eyes. And each chose the stubbornness of his heart, and they did not keep apart from the people 21 and from their sin. And they cast off restraint with a high hand, walking in the ways of the wicked, about whom 22 God said, “Their wine is the venom of serpents and the cruel head of asps.” The serpents 23 are the kings of the peoples, and their wine is their ways, and the head of asps is the head of 24 the kings of Greece, who comes upon them to carry out vengeance. But all these things the builders of 25 the wall and the daubers of whitewash did not understand, for one who walks in wind and weighs storms and spouts to humankind 26 lies, so that the anger of God burned against all his congregation. And as for what Moses said 27 to Israel, “Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to dispossess these 28 nations, but because he loved your fathers and because he kept the oath”: such 29 is the judgment for the returnees of Israel, who turned aside from the way of the people. Because God loved the first ones, 30 who bore witness against the people, following God, he loves those who come after them, for theirs is 31 the covenant of the fathers. But God hates and detests the builders of the wall, and his anger burned against them and against all 32 who walk after them. And such is the judgment for everyone who rejects the commandments of God … 33 and abandons them, and they turn away in the stubbornness of their heart. So all the men who entered the new 34 covenant in the land of Damascus and turned back and betrayed it and turned away from the well of living water 35 shall not be counted in the council of the people, and in their register they shall not be written, from the day of the gathering in of the teacher,
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1 the unique teacher, until there arises the messiah from Aaron and from Israel. And such is the judgment 2 for all who enter the congregation of the men of perfect holiness and then shrink from doing the precepts of the upright. 3 He is the man who is melted in the middle of the furnace. When his deeds become evident he shall be sent away from the congregation 4 like one whose lot never fell among those taught by God. According to his unfaithfulness the men of 5 knowledge shall reprove him, until the day when he returns to stand in the position of the men of perfect holiness, for 6 his lot is not in the midst of … And when his deeds become evident, according to the study of the law in which 7 the men of perfect holiness walk, no one shall share with him in property or in work, 8 for all the holy ones of the Most High have cursed him. And such is the judgment for everyone who rejects, among the first 9 and among the last, who set idols on their heart and walked in the stubbornness of 10 their heart: they have no share in the house of the law. By the judgment of their fellows who turned back 11 with the men of mockery they shall be judged, for they spoke error against the statutes of righteousness and rejected 12 the covenant and the pledge that they established in the land of Damascus, which is the new covenant. 13 And they and their families shall have no share in the house of the law. And from the day of 14 the gathering in of the unique teacher until the end of all the men of war who turned back 15 with the man of the lie there will be about forty years. And in that age the anger of 16 God will burn against Israel, as it says, “There is no king and no prince and no judge, and no one 17 who reproves in righteousness.” But those who turned back from the transgression of Jacob kept the covenant of God. Then they will speak, each 18 to his fellow, to make each his brother righteous, to hold their step in the way of God. And God will pay attention 19 to their words and hear, and a book of remembrance will be written [before him] for those who fear God and those who think on 20 his name, until salvation and righteousness are revealed for those who fear God. “And you will again see the difference between the righteous 21 and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.” And he shows kindness [to thousands,] to those who love him 22 and keep his commandments, for a thousand generations. […] … the house of Peleg, who went out from the holy city 23 and leaned on God in the age of the unfaithfulness of Israel, and they defiled the sanctuary. But they returned again 24 to the way of the people in a few matters. All of them, each according to his spirit, shall be judged in the holy 25 council. And all who broke through the boundary of the law, of those who entered the covenant: when the glory of 26 God appears to Israel they will be cut off from the midst of the camp, and with them all who act wickedly against 27 Judah in the days of its testing. But all who hold fast to these judgments, going out 28 and coming in according to the law, and who listen to the voice of the teacher and confess before God, “We have sinned, 29 we have acted wickedly, both we and our fathers, by walking contrary to the statutes of the covenant; righteous 30 and true are your judgments against us”; who do not raise a hand against his holy statutes and his righteous 31 judgments and his true testimonies; who are instructed in the first judgments by which 32 the men of the community were judged, and give ear to the voice of the teacher of righteousness; who do not abandon 33 the statutes of righteousness when they hear them: they will rejoice and be glad, and their heart will be strong, and they will prevail 34 over all the sons of the world. And God will atone for them, and they will see his salvation, for they took refuge in his holy name.