Column 6

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. And they dug the well: “The well that princes dug, that⁠a 4 the nobles of the people excavated with a staff.” The well is the Torah, 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 Torah, 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 Torah 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