1 “And Moses spoke in the ears of all the congregation of Israel.” 2 The great prophet Moses began and called out, and everyone came to him, as had happened at Mount Sinai. They stood before him, and he began to read aloud, and everyone heard it. Notice how he began and said wayedabber, “and he spoke.” This is how he used to call out at the beginning. Consider the secret of wayedabber and the different kinds of glory contained in it. Noah was the first to be addressed with this word: an announcement and a comfort concerning the building of the ark, an announcement on leaving the ark and a comfort for all time. The Law does the same and also puts wayedabber at the beginning of his call at the start of the third book: “And he called Moses, and the Lord spoke to him.” At the beginning an announcement and at the end a consolation; at the end of his commandment he revealed a blessing! What happened with Noah happened now; and further, the Scripture was arranged by its numbers. In the same way, at the beginning of the fourth book he says wayedabber as a charge to take note, for with every commandment he gives its origin. When he commanded Aaron to pronounce the blessing over Israel, he began with the word wayedabber, commanding him and his sons to pronounce the blessing over Israel. 3 And again, at the time he commanded the trumpets to be made, there was a commandment and a blessing. So too with the commandment of the offerings, the blessing is mentioned just as it is here. Note its high meaning and do not search any further into it; let it be enough. Even so, I will bring you witnesses to increase your knowledge. I will increase your knowledge so that you may see what is contained in the word wayedabber. It contains the number of the years of his prophecy and of his life, since he reached a rank no human being has reached. It contains the number of the seventy-two men, corresponding to the twenty-two letters Moses wrote on the tablets. These are contained in the initial letters of this word, wayedabber. Had it not been for Moses, what he brought down would never have been known. It means something greater still, and it is confirmed that everything created is contained in its number. The Waw in wayedabber stands for the six days of creation, which hold the treasure of everything created. 4 That the Yod means his majesty is plain to you; I need not repeat it. The Daleth is four: on the fourth day the heaven was filled with lights. With the Beth he points to the glory in the created world, an entrance and a close of what was past and what had gone. With the Beth of Bereshith he closed and he opened: he closed what was past and opened what was to come. And when he engraved the Ten Words on the two tablets, it was to close and to open: to open the truth, to close the way of sin and to destroy wickedness. When this word was spoken by the True One, he added the word lemor, “saying,” since this address was from himself, spoken by himself for it to be carried out. That is why the prophet Moses says “and he spoke” and does not say lemor. When God proclaimed the Ten Words, he said lemor; when he began to proclaim them he said, “And God spoke all these words, saying.” Here he says, “And Moses spoke,” and God spoke; the difference is indicated by the word lemor, which had happened before. He had already told it to Adam in a hint, for the happiness of all. And so the great prophet Moses also said it, and so the words “And Moses spoke” contain a mighty hint that can never be destroyed. And he goes on to say, “in the ears of all the congregation of Israel,” for at the very beginning of his calling God said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy wise men.” 5 A question arises here from the saying of the great prophet Moses, “and I will speak to all the congregation of my people.” How is this to be understood? When the Ten Words were proclaimed, it happened at the meeting of God and Moses! Yet he said, so that the people would hear it when I speak with you, to make your greatness known among all the people. And when he had finished his proclamation, he went on to say: “And all the people heard it” and believed. These are the men who were chosen, the seventy men from the elders of the people. And so he said, “I will take some of the greatness that is on you and put it on them,” because he was told, “Let them stand with you at the Tent of Testimony.” No one speaks unless he has permission. And when the rank of the seventy men was raised, they were made equal with Moses, and he spoke with them. He spoke with them, and they learned and told the whole congregation everything they had heard. Exalted is the insight of the great prophet Moses, for he was wise and so could reveal everything to the whole congregation. 6 Where is there one like Moses, and who is the equal of the prophet Moses? None like him has arisen, and none like him will ever arise. Who is like Moses and who is his equal, to whom the Lord revealed what he revealed to no one for ever? Where is there one like Moses, and who is the equal of Moses, who strengthened himself with great wisdom from the light of the Divine? Where is there one like Moses, and who is the equal of Moses, whom the Lord accredited with what belongs to him? Where is there one like Moses, and who is the equal of Moses, for whose sake many wonders were revealed? Great is the great prophet Moses, and what he spoke of the speech that is all life. Every word that came from his mouth was great in wisdom from the name of the Lord. When he began and spoke with power, he said: “This Song,” and he did not say “this Law.” By this he made known to the whole congregation of Israel that it includes them all. He says “this”: see his greatness, the greatness of his grace, which is full of knowledge. Nothing in it is explained except what his servant explained, to whom the Lord allowed it; he explained it truthfully. Moses explained five books, so he says, “this Song.” The He of ha-shirah, “the Song,” is the five books; the Shin and Resh are the great Name; the Yod is the Ten Words; the He is the conclusion. In hazzot, “this,” the He is the Name he put on; the Zayin is the Sabbath and its holiness; the Aleph is his divinity; the Taw is the confirmation of his truth. Exalted is the name of Moses, for all his words are life, and the blessing explained in this word is the name of the Lord and its holiness, and the five books he received. 7 “Until they were finished”: he explains the height, the rank of the faithful. He gathers the priests and takes them all together in one word, the word “until.” So when Joshua said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” And so God also speaks concerning Eleazar: “And the chief of the chiefs of the Levites, Eleazar,” and Phinehas his son, an everlasting covenant. Here he gathered the priests and the faithful. The priests are the guardians of the sanctuary, and those who prophesied are set as trusted witnesses over the words of truth, and both are set as a guard with extraordinary power. Let us praise the Lord because he revealed this to us, and let us extol him for what he taught us. No one has arisen or will ever arise like Moses. And so God also wrote of him: who can triumph over Moses? If anyone got so far, he would grasp the height of his prophecy. Where is there one like Moses, and who is the equal of Moses, who was honored more with the hidden than with the revealed? He was a son of his house and the trusted one of God, and God appeared to him and God spoke with him. He called to him and spoke the word “finished”: whoever is perfect, his words are perfect too. This word includes those who did good deeds such as others had not done. Noah was set apart by what he did, and so God wrote of him, “Noah was a righteous man, perfect.” Abraham too became great when he was told, “Be perfect,” yet he was not told that he would rise into perfection, because of the standing he held before his calling. 8 So also Isaac, who gave himself up to his Lord, who had chosen him for this, and did not refuse, was not called tamim, “perfect”; but God gave him three great blessings. Jacob became great through two of these, but not all were granted to him; rather it was said of him, “Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents.” Moses, however, wrote tamam without the Yod, to show that it was said to Noah by the mouth of God. And when he spoke it in this Song from the mouth of prophecy, he said tamam and not temimah. He shows this with the two Mems without a Yod. The word “until” means what belongs to it, and so on. Exalted is the great prophet Moses, who made known to us words full of life. When he had finished with these exalted things he revealed to us, he opened his mouth with his blessing. Great was his thanksgiving, and it lit up the world together with his whole congregation. Where is there anyone like Moses, and who is the equal of Moses, the servant of God and son of his house? Who is like him, who spoke with his Lord as a friend speaks with his friend? Who is like him, to whom his Lord appeared openly and gave his own handwriting? Who is like him, whose name was made like the name of his Lord? 9 When the great prophet Moses had finished teaching the congregation their service, he said, “and I will speak!” “Give ear” to the word, and he took heaven and earth for them as witnesses. He explained, so that they would know that the secrets of Bereshith, “In the beginning,” belong to him. So in his address he gathers the three divisions together, and when they were present he began, called out, opened his mouth extraordinarily wide and spoke; for with “I will speak” he shows that the three came together with him. Bereshith and everything it includes, and what belongs to it, the whole hidden host and the foundations of the visible: ten were prepared, and they came to him when he called them: the Sabbath day and the ten that belong to it, and the forming of the man and his helper. Consider them all and fill your understanding with the speech of his wisdom. 10 The hidden hosts that were called together are ten: the great Glory and its angels, light and darkness, wind, fire, water and its depths, and the two lights with the stars. All these magnified him, so that his voice would be heard with great power; the signs he revealed to the world came together there to honor him. Light went ahead to carry his words to the people, but thick darkness lay on the hearts of the enemies of the truth. Wind carried the words when he raised his voice, so that they would pass by all his hearers; and a great fire, to kindle wisdom in the hearts of the wise; and water, to bring them on to perfection. The elements supported them to help them on. The two lights also placed themselves under him, and the stars did the same. Take to heart what they saw, and do not be an enemy; give praise to God. Take it to heart and do not be an enemy of God, since he is your guide; give yourself to his service. Take it to heart and do not be an enemy of God, or you will end up below and your enemy above. Take it to heart and do not be an enemy of God: you have no power without him, but he will let his anger rest on you. 11 And ten belong to the Sabbath: majesty, holiness, blessing, contentment and warning, observance, life and death, rest and prayer. All these are good foundations; they make great those who keep his covenant. The Sabbath stands for ever, and its holiness will never be exchanged. It is a command of God by which he glorified Israel. Its blessing is a reward to the one who receives more than enough, a reward brought about in it, and contentment to the one who keeps it. And the warning concerns going out beyond the Sabbath limit. And observance is full of life. And rest from all work: thirty-one prohibitions are contained in it. And prayer is accepted on it; the four prayers are accepted. The repeated prayer brings health: “And Abraham prayed.” The prayer brings fruitfulness: “And Isaac pleaded.” The prayer of kneeling: may God grant you your petition! The prayer to remove the wrath: “Turn from your burning anger.” All these occur in the Sabbath prayer. Life is appointed for those who keep the prayers, and death for those who break through its fences.
1 These ten foundations that were revealed at the beginning stand there for Moses’ exaltation and also for his perfection. Great is this prophet; none like him has arisen among humankind, and none ever will. Consider the number of the letters of the word Bereshith: they are six, like the six days of creation, and each of them is like the next, and his Name, which he revealed to all his creatures, seals the whole. He began with Bereshith and finished with Elohim, and the six days of creation, and the Sabbath and its holiness. That is why the great prophet Moses also begins his speech with ki, “for,” because these ten were made with the Name. So Moses too begins his prophecy with Bereshith, the beginning; the beginning and Elohim stand at the start, together with another, the Name he put on, and he began with it. That is why Moses begins and says ki be-shem, “for the name.” See the greatness of his understanding: he worked with the Name. It is a secret; it confirms the glory with which the Lord clothed him. 2 He mentioned the Lord because of the forming of humankind, for with it humankind was raised up and with Elohim completed, as it is said, “And the Lord God formed the man.” “For I call on the name of the Lord.” It is contained in the word Bereshith, the hidden name, and with the great name of wisdom; it is a secret and great in majesty, with an understanding that takes everything in. Recognize the secret of Bereshith: so it is, and his great Name. The word ki was heard from the mouth of Moses, and yet the utterance of God and that of the prophet are set equal. Let us look at the word bara, “created,” written in the true Law. What is meant when it is written, “In the beginning he created,” and Moses begins his speech by saying, “for in the name”? In the word ki this truth is hidden. And he renewed it with splendor, and Moses spoke eqra, “I call,” with great understanding; for the words bereshith bara contain the six days, and the commands were also written down. Blessed be the Lord of the world. 3 “Ascribe greatness to our God”: Moses made these words the beginning of all the praises contained in the word Bereshith and what is like it. The Waw in habu, “ascribe,” stands for the six days and everything renewed in them. The He means the Name that existed before all creatures. The Beth stands for the two worlds, the former world and the second. The He forms the close; it shows that the one world is like the other. And I will add something more from the saying of wisdom. When he says godel, “greatness,” he strengthens the words with holiness, because the covenant and the Sabbath, whose holiness is great, are contained in it. He marks it in the word godel with the Gimel and the Daleth and closes it with the Lamed. O city full of majesty! Because of its majesty it is written, “The Lord our God is one.” Happy is the one who lives in it; he can rule in it as he pleases. The great prophet Moses lived in it and ruled in it to his glory, and he fed himself on its great glory. No one like him will live in it or go out of it. You men, learn from him, follow him, sing his saying and do not forget his commandments. Woe to the one who dares to turn away from the light and forget the Law, and stays far from it and does not draw near to it. He destroys himself, and God is clear of him. He calls and gets no answer. Praise be to God, who bears patiently with the sinner and in his mercy is lenient with him until he repents. 4 He begins with ha-tsur, “the Rock,” and continues with tsur yeladekha, “the Rock who bore you.” He begins and ends with the same word, and recounts everything praiseworthy, like the paradise Abraham laid out. 5 “The Rock who bore you you neglected.” A rock, your begetter, begot a rejected and degenerate son; woe to the son who is like that. Isaac, the holy one of paradise: his merit endures; Abraham rejoiced in him, and so did the wise of the city. When the rejected and degenerate son wanted to enter paradise, the fathers and all the inhabitants of the city pushed him away. 6 The form of Adam is prized among all the hosts of the Lord. He was made from the four elements, and so Moses also made a beginning on this matter. The first element is water, and everything needs the second, a mixture. With mighty wisdom dust was joined with water. As the beginnings of creation were made with this, so the elements of the body were made with them. That is why the great prophet Moses says, “Give ear, you heavens,” and goes on to say, “Hear it, earth.” He began by calling the two primal elements, and they bring forth wind and fire, which do good service in the work, like a good servant in a great service. And fire, from water, is needed for every work. As it was the first of all in creation, and as everything is made from the four elements, so each thing after its kind is increased by the working of water: 7 The earth consists of four parts. The air consists of four parts. Fire consists of four parts. Note: the primal element is water. 8 He goes on to reveal how these four parts are divided, and see how they are combined: fire and dust are roasted so that the fire goes out, and it is changed, and the change resembles its outside. Fire too was used in this way. In the tabernacle it was brought onto the lampstand like this: “Aaron shall prepare it,” from the fire on the altar that always burns and does not go out. And the fire on the incense altar, of which it is said, “fire from the altar before God.” That is why no strange fire may be brought into the tabernacle. When it was brought there, it caused great destruction, when Aaron’s sons put it on the altar; but Moses the great prophet came near and put it out. Dust likewise consists of four kinds of earth: the dust of the earth, the dust in the Garden of Eden, the dust in heaven and the dust of the floor of the tabernacle. Wind too consists of four: a wind that goes out from God, the east wind, the west wind and the blowing wind. Let us exalt the Lord, humble ourselves before his greatness, and believe in him and in his prophet, who spoke the word ha-tsur. And to tsur he joined tamim, “perfect.” Through his form and his understanding a person attains bodily perfection, and the upright form is a distinction above all creatures. For this reason the Taw is used in tamim, because Resh and Taw mark the greatness of all his perfection. He puts the Mem in the middle of the word tamim, and the Mem drawn to the one before it gives the foundations of creation, the ten wonders and the words of the covenant and of love. The second Mem marks the number of the days of his days; that is why the Yod stands between the two Mems. Exalted is his saying in the word po’olo, “his work”; it forms the close of the words of praise. At the beginning he remembers creation, and at the end the mighty creation of humankind, and because of the beginning he blesses with two words. 9 “Perfect is his work,” in his majesty, for the Lord created everything with great power. He formed and he created, and he ordered and made with his hand creatures of surpassing majesty. All of them borrow from him; it came about by his word. He feeds them with his power, strengthens them with his goodness, and in great glory he raises up his salvation for the one who draws near to him and does not keep away from the One who is near to all who seek him. He looks on them all with love. He is a strong shield to all who believe in him; he is the Gracious and the Merciful. And so he also testifies of himself: “The Lord is merciful and gracious.” When the prophet Moses had finished these words, he began and said:
1 “For all his ways”: for his first way began from eternity, and his second is also a way to the end. And light enough spreads on the Day of Judgment. So, you men, bear your lot patiently now, and let the words of Moses teach you. You were chosen to learn, and you were set free so that you might become wise. Life and blessing go to the one who lets himself be taught, glory and grace to the one who learns. The world is subject to him, so listen to his words. See, the great prophet Moses warns of what will come from the teachings on the Day of Vengeance for all the labors. He says ki kol, “for all”: the ki refers to the beginning and the kol to the end. And Moses knew the beginning and the end. Great is the prophet Moses through what he revealed of the way of the True One. 2 Where is there anyone like Moses, and so on. No prophet like him will ever arise, who went up to the hidden things and dwelt among the mighty. Moses drew near to the thick darkness of the cloud; with his hands he won Israel the victory, set them free and destroyed their enemies. His prayer brought them healing, and his plea reached God; his plea was answered, and he scattered the enemies. Where is there one like Moses, and so on. In this world the gate of the garden was opened to him and he dwelt there; a cloud hid him, and the angels of his Lord and his great Glory glorified him. His light shone before him, darkness fled from him, his spirit sustained him, and the dwelling of God refreshed him. A dark cloud received him. He entered into the first principles, but no one except him knows them; on the Day of Vengeance they will be revealed to all generations. He made known and warned of what lies ahead on that day, what is prepared. Woe to the one who mixes things up: on the Day of Vengeance he will be punished. Woe to us, twice over: every bit of this lies in store for us if we will not be taught and will not learn from the one who hears, the end will come upon us, and our God and our Lord is clear of us. 3 Consider the great prophet Moses: he said, “for all his ways are just,” from the beginning until now. Enoch’s walk was the way of truth; Abraham walked in it, Isaac went in it and became great, and so did Jacob. That is why the great prophet Moses, in making the truth known, says, “for all his ways are justice.” So, you men, believe and learn this wisdom. How exalted is the word the great prophet Moses spoke: consider Enoch’s walk. In it he stood and called, “Whoever is for God, come to me.” He makes known and explains the deed of Cain, what was done to him and to his descendants after him. And afterward the making of the calf and its destruction, for which Moses came and called, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” So on the Day of Vengeance the truth will be revealed, and everyone who did a deed will be rewarded according to his work. “Abraham planted an orchard” and proclaimed there the name of the Lord, the King of the world; he gave refreshment there, and there they were honored. The great prophet Moses pitched a tent: “Everyone who sought the Lord came to him.” On the Day of Vengeance Moses prepares a tent, rescues the beloved and destroys all their enemies. Isaac walked on this way, and his sons multiplied; let us learn from him. 4 The great prophet Moses prayed and fasted for the men, so that the sinners might find forgiveness. And those for whom he prayed had their sins remitted, and they obtained forgiveness by grace. Jacob went on this way and was made great with a great vision. The prophet went up Mount Sinai and received the tablets, in which there is life for all time. Jacob saw high angels in a dream; they revealed themselves to him to honor him. Moses saw various treasures set out in order before him, and they listened to his words. Jacob had a vision in a dream, “and the angels of God were going up and down.” The prophet of God saw them too; they gathered around him to hear him and to serve him. Of Jacob it says, “And see, the Lord stood above it.” And of Moses it says, “And the Lord passed by before his face.” From this we know that his rank was not given to the others who were before him and came after him. Of Jacob he said to him, “I am the Lord”; from this he knew that what belonged to his fathers would be given to him. And of Moses he said: “And the Lord called: Who is like this Moses,” and so on. 5 “For all his ways are justice.” Glorified be the speaker who made the ways of the True One known to the generations. Consider the matter of justice; this is it, and do not turn away from it. “He executes justice for the orphan and the widow.” “And if he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am gracious.” 6 “You shall not wrong a stranger”: the Great One secures justice. 7 “You shall not show partiality”: the Great One secures justice. 8 “You shall not stand against the blood of your neighbor”: the Great One secures justice. 9 “You shall not swear falsely by my name”: the Great One secures justice. 10 “You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people”: the Great One secures justice. 11 You shall not defile the circumcision: the Great One secures justice. 12 You shall not give yourself to sexual immorality: the Great One secures justice. 13 You shall not covet what does not belong to you: the Great One secures justice. 14 You shall not profane the Sabbath day: the Great One secures justice. 15 You shall not bow down before an image: the Great One secures justice. 16 When Cain stole his brother’s heart and killed him, the Great One carried out the judgment. 17 And if a prophet arises among you and steals your heart, you shall not obey him, for God will carry out judgment on him. 18 If your brother tries to lead you astray as Cain did, do not accept it from him; the Great One carries out judgment. And if you let your heart be softened and follow all these, God will bring judgment on you. 19 He warned and taught you; he repays every work according to the deed, whether good or bad. So this son of Eden also said, “As the deed, so the reward.” Exalted be the man Moses, who taught us a wisdom full of well-being. May this great prophet Moses be made great, who in his Scripture set out the day of the beginning, the section Bereshith, and the Day of Vengeance. He revealed to the generations what was at the beginning and what will be at the end. Bereshith is the beginning and the Day of Vengeance the end. Neither will be destroyed. Nothing ever came before them. That is why this is also mentioned at the beginning of every commandment and every reading of Scripture. God made himself known as the One who exists for ever, who neither increases nor diminishes.
1 “A God of faithfulness.” His rule never changes. This was said ten times, and no one began with it except Moses the prophet. Earlier he said it to obtain forgiveness, and at the end as a comfort. In the time of their apostasy he made a plea for deliverance, and he foresaw that it would be granted if he asked. And here too he asked; then it was revealed to him that God existed before the creation of the world, and now and afterward his power endures and his rule is supreme. “A God of faithfulness”: he made known to them here that faith in him is complete, as he says, the God who is faithful. So the True One also says: my servant Moses is faithful; I have set him over the hidden and the revealed, and also over Bereshith and the Day of Vengeance. The trust given to Moses was complete. O, his dominion goes on for ever; it is complete. El emunah, “a God of faithfulness”: a God, possessor of eternal life. A God before the beginning, a God after the Day of Vengeance. A God from whom everything comes and to whom everything returns. O wholly exalted proclamation, majesty, O what wisdom, which is all life, O wholly perfect faithfulness, O his unshakable dominion, an unfathomable power, O a majesty that cannot be destroyed! A God who destroys all foreign gods, a God who shepherds all his pious ones. Firm in his greatness, existing from himself, his divinity like his prophet, and his creation and the priesthood. He wrote all this in hints; our God has sealed them, and at the beginning I will reveal them. 2 They are these: the Aleph in the word emunah points to his divinity; the Mem to his prophet; the Waw to his creation; the Nun to the priesthood; the He to the five books Moses explained to us. And see, I will add more wisdom, so that no weakness remains in your heart. Aleph is the great Name; it shows that he is one. His writing and his name are alike. Mem means the number of the years, since the grace was with them in the days of the great prophet Moses; when these came together, the world was great. Waw points to the words he spoke when Moses came down and put on light over his face. Nun is the number of the priestly divisions of service. He: there is no need to look into it, for the word ends with the great He. And He is the end of the great Name of the Lord. When the great prophet Moses spoke this word, he made known what belongs to Him. This is a good portion; no one is like him; he stays the same for ever. To him belongs the world before, to him belongs the order, to him belongs the rule, to him belongs the dominion, to him belongs the divinity, to him belongs the oneness, to him belongs the power, to him belongs the majesty, to him belongs eternal life, and all life is borrowed from him. Who can praise him, once he has known what he is! Blessed be the One who is one in himself, in the hidden heart. 3 Consider the words the great prophet Moses spoke after the words “and without perversity,” and no “wrongdoing”: the word ‘awel says that as it was at the beginning, so it is at the end. He shows no partiality; there is no injustice in him. When he called Adam, there was no injustice there. When he was angry at Cain, there was no wrong in it. When he clothed Eve with pain, there was no wrong in it. When he cursed the ground, it was no wrong. When he was angry with Lamech, it was no wrong. When he scattered the men of Babylon, it was no wrong. When he burned Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them, there was no wrong there. When he destroyed Pharaoh, it was no wrong. When he killed the Egyptians, it was no wrong. When he destroyed those who had made the calf, there was no wrong there. With all of these he dealt as with those who had gone before. Adam broke the command and was justly punished; when he listened to his wife’s voice, he was justly struck with fear. Cain killed his brother; he was justly punished. Lamech made the sin heavier; he was justly punished. When the men of Babel angered God, they were justly punished. When the people of Sodom multiplied their sins, they rightly feared being burned. All these who were insolent toward God were justly punished. Praised be the King who stays the same, who changes things but does not change himself. He judges the wrongdoers and punishes them, but he rewards those who do good. When Noah did good, his conduct was made known, and he called him “a righteous and perfect man.” When Abraham was called and came with a pure heart, he was justly rewarded. And so all who gave themselves wholly and purely to their Lord were justly rewarded. 4 Where is there one like Moses, and who resembles Moses, to whom the Lord revealed what he revealed to no one else? Praised be he for his great goodness, and exalted be he because of his gifts. Let us fear his power, tremble in awe of him, bow down and say: There is only one God! 5 The understanding of Moses grew strong when he said El emunah, “a God of faithfulness,” closed the two words by saying we-ein ‘awel, “and without wrongdoing,” and went on to say tsaddiq, “just.” This is a perfect word. It was spoken earlier for Adam’s sake: when Abel was killed, his Lord comforted him and he went back to his wife. And when he said it, his heart grew strong and he was set right. Seth arose, and when it came to an end with him, Noah brought deliverance and became a second Adam, for this is a great matter. All will be made happy with him; Israel will be blessed. Now the True One establishes it, and he commands you to walk after it. Consider the beginning and consider the end! When it was said to Noah, the word was written in full, with the Yod; and when the saying went out from the mouth of the True One, there was no Yod in it. And when Moses spoke it and wished to apply the same word to God, he added the Yod, which is the first letter of the great Name. And he called those favored with his covenant tsaddiq, and with this word he commanded Israel, “With justice you shall judge.” “Justice, justice you shall pursue.” When God called Moses to gather men according to their number, he began: you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar and seventy of the elders of Israel, and the twelve chiefs of the tribes of the children of Israel, and Joshua and Hur: these are ninety. 6 Then comes the Daleth in the word tsaddiq; it points to the four that are found in the tabernacle: the great Glory, the two tablets and the angels. All these came together there for Moses’ exaltation. The letter Qof in tsaddiq is meant to show that Abraham’s joy, when he was a hundred years old, at the birth of his son Isaac was great. For by what he did Abraham became the head of the fathers, and he stood firm in what his Creator commanded him. He “also planted an orchard” of all the fine trees in which God took delight. And when the angels came to bring him the message, he prepared a table for them, and they joined him and were honored under his trees. That is why the great prophet Moses repeated it to them as a reminder, to comfort them: “Turn from your fierce anger.” And in his reminder he made sure the pious were remembered. Exalted is the understanding of Moses, because he revealed a high understanding; all will be favored, loved and made happy. 7 Yashar, “upright,” is a word divided into its letters. There is no second; beginning and end belong to God and Moses, and no other is with them. From the beginning his power was revealed through creation, and at the end his prophet made it great. There is truly no need to search these words any further. So let your heart take note, open your eyes and pay attention with your understanding. Rise up to God your Lord, and you will find a gate open before you; go into it with all your people and learn from what Moses, the teacher of the prophets, teaches you, so that you reach a rank no one before you has reached. What use is a man without wisdom? Let him go back home and not stay in the tabernacle. A priest who has a defect may not come near the tabernacle. From this, learn what may not stand in the tabernacle. A person with a defect, whether in the eye or in a limb, is no support for the congregation when one is needed, not by his means and not by his strength; but God supports them! If they obey the Lord, he provides for them; they do not need the wise to care for them. The prophet Moses did not summon the wise for any other purpose than to teach the people, and so to give them a share in the truth they had received and that God had given them. Whoever has no share in this truth of God, what use is he? Let such a person be removed and left bare. And when the great prophet Moses came to strike the rock so that water would flow out, the Lord said to him, “Take with you some of the elders of Israel.” Praised be our Lord, who increases his mercy toward us and guides us on all our ways, where we walk on the path of life. Let us not depart from the truth, and let us trust in the saying of the man Moses. 8 We-yashar, “and upright”: the word is turned around from yashri. With this word he revealed the secret: the First is without beginning; he is the One who stands over the deep of darkness; he is the one who created as he willed, and so he is also the One who stays the same for ever. What he was at the beginning, he is also at the end. So let us bow down before him and say with reverence and in faith, “There is only one God.”
1 See how the great prophet stands there and begins to rebuke the world. Israel was listening, and he did not rebuke them until he had first spoken words that please God, words by which the pious are made great. Here the hosts of heaven and of earth are named together, because they were made at the beginning. Likewise, what God made he prepared to increase life. Much of what was there from the beginning was prepared to support the human heart; and so God also said, “Life and death.” And it was prepared for Adam and for Moses. Adam ate and was destined for death; Moses fasted and was destined for life. They were corrupted, Adam and Eve, through the word of the serpent, which came with cunning and spoke blasphemy: “And you will be like angels.” The words “they were corrupted” show that the serpent’s speech was not true; so he says lo lo, “not his”: it destroyed them with cunning, to their great humiliation. “They destroyed” holds the words of the serpent, which spoke with cunning and arrogance and confused their reason, so that it brought death and pain. What a great destruction was brought into the world: destruction through death for Adam and his descendants, and pain for Eve, as it is said, “In pain you shall bear children.” They were harmed by their desires and their enjoyment; by all of these they were harmed. This was said because of Adam’s deed, which became the beginning of sin, for before it no deed arousing anger had been done against the True One, about which humankind had been warned. 2 Benei mum, “blemished children.” Woe to Cain, who was born at a time when everything was angered. He committed two sinful deeds and became guilty of death. He did not redeem the firstfruits. And he became guilty of death because he killed his brother Abel. Good was a year of Adam’s, but he did not complete it. And good was a year of Cain’s, but he did not complete it. A year of Adam’s was scattered; he was blessed but made himself poor when he broke the command. “And the Lord God made every fine tree spring up from the ground.” He abandoned the command and ate to his death. In his hatred Cain killed the cherished one and left the laid table, that is, his dwelling, and became a restless wanderer. How much the cherished one is preferred; he is loved! And so with Israel too: in the first year it left life and walked toward death. In the first year it heard from the Lord of the world: I am the Lord; let there be no other god for him. But it left him and made itself a cast calf. In the second year, when the tabernacle was set up, they hid their degradation until they came to Baal Peor, and they did what they did. That is why the great prophet Moses says: they were corrupted by these, and near it stands “blemished children.” 3 “A crooked generation,” that is, the Time of Disfavor: the defilement that came through the sin of profaning the sanctuary. And a house of sin was built in the name of a foreign god who says nothing in the world. When the enmity of crookedness against God turns back on itself, then the greatness of Moses, who gathered ten prophecies here, will be revealed. He revealed them in this Song, and they all concern the worship of foreign gods, that the Time of Disfavor comes and rules with all the power of its hand through an extraordinary apostasy. With ten rebukes he rebukes Israel here. And ten were spoken when he gave the saying before the whole assembly. And with ten warnings he warned them. And he revealed ten laws to them. And he made ten consolations known to them. And with ten glories he glorified them. 4 Ten prophecies he prophesied before them, and the True One is mighty in them; they begin at the start of his speech. “Remember: the world is dying.” “I live for ever.” “The Lord will reign for ever and ever.” “And there is no other god beside him.” “And he will forsake God his maker.” “Like showers on the grass.” The saying “I am the Lord” and what closes the verse. “And they scorned the Rock of their salvation.” They made themselves a cast calf and said, “These are your gods, Israel.” “They provoked him with strange things.” They prepared themselves for the immorality of Baal Peor and fathered children there in immorality. “And with abominations they angered him.” Zimri the adulterer, who hid himself in a tent for immorality, was seen. “They sacrificed to demons, not to God”: it is our shame. “And they bowed down to it,” with great sin. “They did not know God.” “When you father children.” “And God will see it and reject them.” How does it end? “And it burns to the lowest Sheol.” Woe to her, the Time of Disfavor: the deed of the men of Sodom was renewed then. “And no one delivers from my hand.” He destroys the servants of foreign gods, and they had no rescue from the fire of pitch, “and he makes atonement for his land, his people.” Happy are the pious, since what was hidden from them has been made known in the world. Because of news you have not yet heard, set your understanding upright and keep it in your heart, so that you learn and teach it. Consider the majesty of the great prophet Moses and praise God, whose power is in two worlds. No one has arisen like Moses, and no one will arise. And so God also wrote of him, “And there has not arisen in Israel,” and so on. 5 Notice how the great prophet Moses begins his prophecy! When all Israel came to him he said, “Remember! the world is dying.” By this he shows that everything that is renewed also returns to its elements. Creation was renewed by a word, and by a word it returns to its elements. Bereshith begins with Beth, not with Aleph, for if the Scripture began with Aleph there would be no renewal; for God first created the abyss, and second he revealed to those with understanding that he destroyed the first world to let another arise on it. So the faithful prophet teaches that the Beth in Bereshith points back to the world before, and this is the silent abyss, and to it he turns it back again. That is why God created all creatures in six days and rested on the seventh day. If you are wise, another day is appointed for you, and if you do a work, you will refresh yourself on it. Woe to the person whom no work goes before; for him it will be dark on that day. None has arisen like Moses, and none will arise, who in the word Bereshith also points to the Day of Vengeance. And the text is full of one thing and another. 6 “He forsook God his maker.” A word whose great writing shows that God stays the same in his being; he neither increases nor decreases. Your Awesome One does not change in his existence. “I am” in his divinity. Eternal in his awesomeness. No space contains his greatness, and he renews every place with his power. The Lord our God is a great King, who let the man Moses prophesy and revealed to him the way of his truth. There is no pious life but the life of the men who have known the truth and walk in it in purity according to the words of Moses. Pay attention, so that your life may always be lengthened in well-being. 7 “And he scorned the Rock of his salvation.” He shows by this that whoever does a good deed will see it, and that every deed is rewarded as it was done. And the True One reveals this in this place. Notice how he says, “the perfect Rock.” What he said before he renews here. Woe to the person whose good deeds do not go before him, and who is like the pious in what they have done, and does not take warning from Cain’s example and exalts himself. Cain destroyed himself and became a restless fugitive; he killed his brother out of empty jealousy. What folly is this? With one deed he turned his understanding upside down, grieved the world and lived in pain, and his Lord was angry with him. So it is with all who have fallen through their desires, abandoned the truth, become like the apostates and made a cast calf. They made God their enemy, who will punish their sins on the great Day of Judgment; take note of this! Do not make your Lord your enemy, do not rise up in strife; you have no power there, and no one can make peace for you. Those who should be your friends will be your enemies. Woe to the person who does this evil deed to himself. Blessed be our Lord; let us praise him and believe in him and in Moses his prophet, for no one has arisen or will arise like him. 8 “They provoke him with foreign gods.” With his reminder, following what the True One made known, he revealed that the sinful Time of Disfavor will come, and Israel will commit the abomination and provoke its God; it will go to the place of the True One, set itself insolently against him and build a temple in another place, and so provoke him! O corrupted world, which will rise again no more and gain strength no more, and find no rescue from the flood. Like Sodom it will be destroyed, scattered like the builders of the tower, rooted out like the Egyptians, shattered like Pharaoh, slain like Amalek and destroyed like Korah, for your Lord takes pleasure in it. But if you mock and do not reflect, you will be cursed like the ground because of Cain and destroyed like Sodom, and God is clear of you. He does not love sin, and he grants sinners no protection. But on the pious, who listen to his voice and keep his commandments, he has compassion. This Merciful and Gracious One hears everyone who seeks him sincerely. 9 “And with abominations they provoke him”: a sinful world, full of faults. No one in it acts rightly, for abominations thrive in it. There are no good children and no perfect fathers, no wisdom, no reason and no understanding, only a world wholly given to sin. There is no truth and no purity, only a world entirely detestable. Woe to those who provoke him! A reward is set for them for what they have done to themselves: shattering is set for them all. Happy are we on the last day if we have prepared a good reward for ourselves in the other world, so that we are clear of guilt on the Day of Vengeance. Let us keep what the great prophet taught us, for all his words are life and grace. 10 “They sacrifice to demons, not to God”: this is because of the accursed Panjah, when he arises, destroys the Tabernacle and does away with all the service performed there, and the world is left without Tabernacle and without altar. There will be no sacrifice, no whole offering, no peace offering, no grain offering, no sin offering, no burnt offering, no prayer and no priest. All this is because of Panjah. Merciful One, remember our fathers and do not abandon the remnant, for their enemies rejoice and wish to destroy us, yet deliverance through you is near. Their heart stands firm in faith in you; guide them with your mercy, for you yourself testify that you do not forget the covenant with the pious. Let us remain standing in the congregation of the True One and not leave it. Let us learn from the Book, which endures, and let us read it often, for the great prophet, the teacher Moses, wrote it. We are children, for the Lord has chosen us, so let us learn from it if we are good children. Let us turn away from every apostasy, let us strengthen ourselves by the observance the Lord commanded us, and let us listen to the speech with which the Lord has taught us. 11 Woe to the person whom the Time of Disfavor leads so far astray that even his own understanding leads him to a foreign god. 12 They are the ones who are not wise; they have been led astray. They went there, and from there they must turn back. This is an evil deed that they have done to themselves. Among the heads of perversion there is no help, no deliverance and no support for anyone to speak to. So whoever does not understand this, to whom will he turn his face in need? In distress there is no help for him and no one to take the plague away from him. Let us stay far from these people and flee from them. The deed of Cain will be paid back to them in full, and much more than Lamech. Whoever does not know the True One, to whom will he cling? Woe to whoever wanders off into sin. Praised be the Merciful One, whose mercies are doubled, for they are full of his goodness, and he has perfected them with his grace. Let us follow the great prophet Moses and the commandments he taught us, value them and not forget them all our days.
1 “To the depths of hell”: with this word he revealed the greatness of the Day of Vengeance. Whoever repents only on that day, because of the great judgment, finds no deliverance there. Happy is the one who is saved there by his piety. He has prepared it for himself; the fire has no power over him there. He freed himself by his own effort: he kept away from the craving for sin, did not stand in falsehood and did not speak deceitfully, and so his Lord honored him. Woe to the one who is not like this! In this world he is in distress, and on the Day of Vengeance he will be shattered, and God is innocent of it. He taught him, but he would not learn; he called him, but he did not answer. He went to the True One and did a deed that angered him. So he is shattered, for He repays every doer according to his deed. Let us return to him, as he tells us: “And you shall return to the Lord,” the Merciful and Gracious, who receives everyone who repents. People, wake up from your sleep and do what the great prophet Moses taught you, so that it may go well with you on the Day of Vengeance, when God calls out, “And there is no rescue from my hand.” 2 Woe to the sinner when He questions him about his deeds! Woe to the sinner when the True One says to him, “Why have you turned your future world away from you by what you have done? It goes bitterly for you. There was no obedience, no good deed, no reading of Scripture, no prayer, no pleading and no deed that pleased.” For “the Lord will judge” every deed that was done, whether good or evil. Whoever made himself a god to support him is lost on that day. Whoever made a god of wood and bowed before it will be banished. “And there is no rescue from my hand” for the one who set up a god after the desire of his heart. “And there is no rescue from my hand.” Whoever makes an image in the likeness of a form, woe to him then: “there is no rescue from my hand.” Whoever puts his trust in anyone besides me, woe to him there: for him “there is no rescue from my hand.” 3 Where is anyone like Moses, and who is like Moses, the servant of God and trusted one of his house, who lived among the angels in a covered tent, and they all honored him by dwelling with him? His light came from the Light, and he was entirely filled with it. He offered sacrifice among them and was a holy priest. The world quaked when He called him, when it heard the voice of the Lord and the voice of the great prophet. When they perceived it, the hidden ones were appalled and the visible ones were terrified. The great prophet Moses fasted; the living rejoiced and the dead were afraid of him. When he received the tablets, myriads of angels went before him, and he carried the tablets in his hands. When they were renewed after the great sin had been committed, he was given enlightenment in full measure and clothed with a ray of light. When he was glorified with his staff on that day, his heart rejoiced, because his intercession was accepted, the congregation was preserved and its repentance was received. Then the True One appeared to him and proclaimed the Ten Words. It was also proclaimed to him concerning Aaron that he was reinstated in his office, and so he fasted a second day. 4 The children of Israel were commanded to fast on that day for all generations. Let us see the great prophet Moses come down from Mount Sinai on the day of the fast, light resting on his face, holding the two tablets. Seated on a great throne, he wrote down in the book what his Lord had taught him. He was nourished by the glory of the angels: he ate their food, sat at their table, satisfied himself with their bread, bathed in their basin and dwelt in their tent. He fasted as a thank offering, and the whole congregation fasted with him, and it was established as an everlasting memorial that will never be done away with. Happy is the one who keeps it and does not transgress it. Woe to the one who turns away from it; he destroys himself and cuts off his descendants, for the Lord made it known to us in the Scripture through the prophet. Where is anyone like Moses, and who is like Moses the prophet? No one like him has arisen, and no one like him will arise. 5 Let us all hold fast to the truth and not turn aside from it, for we are the children of the pious, and the Lord has chosen us and made us the chosen of all the nations. Cain is not our father, that we should be banished; we are not the children of Enoch, that we should have to flee; not the children of Cush, that we should be cursed; not the children of Nimrod, that we should be restless; not the children of the tower builders, that we should be scattered; not the children of the people of Sodom, that we should be burned; not the children of the Egyptians, that we should be slaughtered; not the children of the Amalekites, that we should be destroyed; and not the children of Korah, that the earth should swallow us. With this understanding let us turn to the subject of sin. When Judah went near the sinful woman, he had fathered Er and Onan, and they had died before him, before the pious. When Reuben went near apostasy and his birthright was destroyed, he lost his rank, and God is innocent of it. Had it not been for Joseph’s sake, his repentance would not have been accepted. That is why it was spoken through the prophet’s mouth: “Let Reuben live and not die,” and “Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah.” And what of after the Flood? We were not begotten in the time of the Flood. We are Abraham’s sons, begotten after he was circumcised! We were not begotten while he was still uncircumcised! Indeed we are not like the children of Ishmael, in whom the Lord takes no pleasure. 6 That is why Abraham gave everything he had to his son Isaac. We would be acting against the True One if we granted Ishmael a share in what his father distributed. How could we bring such disgrace on ourselves by doing this? We are Isaac’s sons; are we to leave the cities desolate after the blessing? Why act like this? Esau has no claim to the birthright; it is confirmed to us, and that cannot be undone. Whoever sold his birthright with indifference, are we to give it back to him? Why should that be? We are the children of Jacob, of whom it is said that he was “a quiet man, dwelling in tents.” And why tents? The tent of Abraham and of Isaac. Are we to abandon his wisdom? Far from it! We are the sons of Joseph after the trial; are we to abandon his kingdom? Far from it! We had pious fathers, and there is no one we could learn from but them. We will not do evil, and we will not act so for anyone’s sake! We are the children of the pious, and they are all holy ones. If we abandon our fathers, we are like the son of foreigners and the insolent, and our fathers will grieve over our destruction and will not protect or deliver us. Whoever has no pity on himself, who will have pity on him? Whoever does not listen to the True One, how will he hear his voice? Whoever lets go of his righteousness, who will have pity on him? When the son of Shelomith cursed the Name, he was stoned; who had pity on him? 7 Zimri the fornicator, whom Phinehas ran through when he defiled his circumcision, who had pity on him? 8 And the cunning Achan, when Joshua put him to death and destroyed him, who had pity on him? 9 When Korah rose up against the great prophet Moses and the earth swallowed him, who had pity on him? And are we wise, who are like them, while we renew sin every day? These were taken away for one deed; they could not stay long in sin, but the reward, that is, the punishment, came on the same day! How long the True One waits with us, and we do not recognize his goodness. How long he delays, and still we do not turn back from error. How long the True One waits with us, and still we do not keep what he taught us! Woe to us! If only we regarded ourselves as chosen for the True One and obeyed his commandments, by which we would live.
1 Now, Israel, obey his commandments, so that you may be like your forefather and be called a good son. “And he kept my commandments, my statutes and my teachings.” What pleasing service, by which the True One is glorified! “And I will multiply your offspring for the sake of my servant Abraham.” Whoever listens to the voice of the Lord, I will make numerous in everything, for it is said, “so that the Lord may bring about for Abraham” what he promised him. He gave him a reward according to his deed. What he promised him, the son shares in equally: he multiplies him and his offspring. These are words that Moses spoke because it is said: “Abraham will command his children and his household after him.” And the two of them made a covenant. Because of his faithfulness: “Do not harass Moab and do not make war on them.” And he said, “Now the Lord has made room for us.” “Look down from your holy dwelling, from heaven.” All these words the great prophet Moses gathered into one word. And this is the Song: “Jacob ate and was satisfied, and Jeshurun grew fat and kicked” is also taken from the words of praise. Good is his blessing. The mouth of Moses praised Him after He had made known to him the ten attributes of his prophethood. 2 Then he spread out his hands and called out, saying with a soul full of awe: “You who crowned me with your light, made me great by your signs, glorified me with your glory, covered me with your hands and brought me into your hidden tent; who clothed me with your Name, by which you created the world, proclaimed your great Name to me and taught me your secrets; who set me over the people you have chosen, spoke with me mouth to mouth, raised me up to proclaim, and enlightened my heart with your wisdom; who allowed me to make a tent as a dwelling for the glory of your rule and a dwelling for the angels. You purified my tongue for your holiness, and my heart likewise for prayer. Fill up what you began and complete it, as you have spoken, so that I may keep your commandments with joy and also with awe. I will fulfill your Law and keep the reading of it, as you commanded, for you appointed me to it and commanded it of me. And now I open my mouth and begin this Song with your praise, by your leave.” 3 In the word HLYHWH (“Is it to the Lord”) there are large letters; this cannot be fully fathomed. The great prophet makes this known to the seed of Jacob: “My people, its understanding is led astray.” That is why he spoke this word and made it the beginning of his praise. He wished to begin by joining the two names, Elohim and the Lord, which are used at the beginning of creation and of the making of humankind. When his form was complete, Adam gave praise in a song of praise; he felt honored in his creation. When Moses praised God, the angels rejoiced and answered, saying, “Praise the Lord for his glory, all his angels.” What was said there they renewed here. Is there a god like the Lord? Everything is contained in him. He is the Great One from the beginning of creation, and so he is on the Day of Vengeance. The True One spoke! God spoke, and the foundations of creation quaked, and when he said, “I am the Lord,” Israel was afraid. When he said HLYHWH, the creatures and all Israel prepared themselves for the song of praise. That is why it says, “And Moses spoke in the ears of all the congregation of Israel.” He turned away and said, “Listen, heavens, and hear, earth.” He gathers the whole universe together and says, “Praise the Lord with songs of praise.” In his address he joins heaven and earth for the praise of the Lord of the world. So let us also praise our Lord and our Good One, for he is merciful and gracious, who does good to his beloved and makes it go well for the one who praises him. Praised for ever be the One who reveals a word to us in his song of praise, for he says with emphasis, “Is he not your father and your guide?” 4 He begins with the word HLʾ (“Is not”), a very large written word for every time and hour. With it he began and with it he ends; with it he shows Israel a great mystery. He began with it and closed with it. The He in the word refers to the Beginning, and the Aleph to the Day of Vengeance, a great He at the end. And so he says, “For the Lord will judge”: the Lord will judge whoever is arrogant. The great prophet spoke this word, and all his hearers stood in order before him. He spoke two words, “your father, your guide,” reminding the Israelites, “Israel is my firstborn,” and he asks grace for them from their Lord! “Honor your father and your mother!” Further, to stir them toward the True One, he adds: he is also your owner. He said this so that Israel might rise up and receive good from the Lord. For every person who has a possession protects it and seeks to make it grow; whenever he looks at it, he is pleased with it. So God looks on Israel, because it is his possession. Israel will become great if it keeps his words. God makes Israel great because it is his possession, and Israel grows great in the wisdom of the Lord when it walks in your footsteps, for your Lord is your owner, and they will learn this from your sayings. “See, when you listen to his voice, you will be raised above all nations.” For your Lord has chosen you and made you great. Because your Lord made you his own possession, your enemies will be afraid of you. See, you have heard it from his voice! Who is like you, Israel? For your Lord is your owner; you will live in safety if you keep his commandments. Let us fulfill them, for they are binding on us. So let us obey the True One, so that our Lord and our owner may have mercy on us. So let us bow to the ground before the Lord at all times, pray to him in great awe and worship him in purity, so that we may be accepted, for he says, “And you shall circumcise the foreskin of your hearts.” 5 Let us follow the great prophet Moses, this pious leader whom the Lord sent us. Where is there a prophet like Moses, who was a father to all Israel and made it great? He prayed for us, interceded for us with fasting and blotted out our sins with his prayer. He freed us from the hand of our enemies and established us in the perfect faith. He was a good physician: he healed, gave a staff to the old and honor to men, strengthened the young, enlightened the children and gave strength to women in childbirth. It happened as he prophesied, and so he freed them. When he received the tablets, his words gave way before the words of the Lord. Believe in him, and you will stand firm, kept safe from all wrath, and on the Day of Vengeance it will go well with you. You will not stand in the fire; it has no power over you. Whoever believes in him believes in the Lord. Woe to us if we do not rouse our hearts and believe in the Lord and his servant Moses. Let us look to the great prophet Moses! He says, “He made you and established you.” 6 In the word “and established you” a Vav and a Yod stand at the front; he wants to indicate by this why the word God is used here. Whoever tries to understand this sees that everything was created and renewed through him, and through him everything returns again to its elements. Moses says, “He made you”; he says neither Elohim nor the Lord; in Scripture he calls the name of the Lord “One.” When the great prophet Moses was called by the True One, he praised God with this word. He made known that this is the Creator of all, the One who does justice, the Worker of wonders: “The Lord is our God, the Lord is One.” “And all the people shall see how he does great signs, such as have never been created.” When the great prophet proclaimed this speech to the Israelites, he said, “He is your maker.” “And he did the signs before the eyes of the people.” So he said, “He is your maker,” and he completed this praise with the saying, “and he established you.” He made! It is a great work in which there is no flaw. Every craftsman in the world is deficient in his craft, but all the works of the Lord are perfect. 7 Praised be the Creator, who completed his creation, and there is no other god with him. The great prophet Moses was glorified, whose understanding was enlightened as it pleased God, and he said: the Lord is alone. He occupies no space by which he could be known, not even a corner by which he could be recognized, and he does not dwell in one place. He is beyond space, unique in his great power. He revealed this in the word “alone,” that he occupies no space where one could search for him. So he says, “The Lord alone.” If anyone seeks him, will he find him? This matter is confirmed by a great word: “There is no foreign god with him.” All beside him are foreign and worthless; he has no division. In his divinity he created without support, he made without a companion, he produced without a model. In everything he made we recognize all this. So let us testify in firm faith and say: There is only one God!
1 Let us look at the great prophet as he stands before the congregation. He says, “See now that I, I am he.” Woe to those who bow to a foreign god, set up its image and bow before it. Woe to the foreign gods; they cannot stand when the True One reveals himself. Great is this Praised One, who speaks, and everything quakes and trembles. “And there is no god beside me.” The creatures will know it and see that they are fading away, because they turned aside, denied and said, “There is a god besides him who is like him.” There they will burn in a mighty fire. The heavens will then say, “What is carved by hands is foreign gods; we do not accept them, and they do not support us.” The stars likewise say of the foreign gods, “We do not acknowledge them, and we do not worship them.” The sun and the moon also say, “Because they are foreign gods, we do not obey them!” The earth and everything that belongs to it likewise say, “We accept no foreign gods and bring them no offerings; they are carved by hands.” So an answer came from the mouth of the True One for all: from the beginning it was prepared; at the last the great prophet Moses, the faithful one, who made all this known and revealed it in his Song, will be great. Woe to those who bow before foreign gods, serve them, lean on them and seek help from them. Let us keep away from them and not go near them, for who is it that rescues on the Day of Vengeance? I, I am he! Praised be the One who speaks, who made the world quake. 2 “I am who I am”: I opened the realm of the spirit. “I, I am he” who opens the realm of hell. 3 “I am who I am”: I open and I shut. “I, I am he” who puts to death and makes alive. 4 “I am who I am”: I who take away the soul and bring up again, that is, raise from the dead. “I, I am he” who rescues and destroys. 5 “I am who I am,” who freed Israel from every distress. Woe to Pharaoh and all the Egyptians when He revealed the great Name and the man Moses went up to Pharaoh and overcame his strength. He was terrified of the True One when he perceived it, and the world heard the words: “I, I am he.” 6 Then all his effort will be brought to nothing. There the pious will be freed and all sinners punished. Happy are those who obey, and woe to all the rebellious, O God, merciful and gracious, besides whom there is no one. Let us humble ourselves before him and submit to his greatness. Great prophet, servant sent by God! Happy are all who believe in him. Let us love him and observe his commandments, so that the Lord may have mercy on us and send us rescue. 7 Consider the prophet Moses as he speaks praise in this Song. He said: 8 “Rejoice, you nations, with his people.” Then everyone bowed down, bent low and longed for freedom. When the man Moses finished his praises, all the hosts of creation gathered around him. “And the members of the congregation of Israel stood to hear it, so that they might learn and fear.” He began to instruct them, so that they might keep this speech of the Ten Words and not forget it. He renewed it in order to instruct them with the light of the True One. Read it with full understanding, give thanks to your Lord, and praise the prophet who taught you so. 9 “Ask your father, and he will tell you” what he did for your sake, so that you may gain knowledge in everything. 10 Ask “your elders, and they will” tell you the commandments, the precepts, the ordinances and the whole Law. What is unclear to you they will make understandable, and so you will be called enlightened and wise and will teach the one who comes after you. 11 “You grew fat, thick and sleek”: food that does not swell and drink that is never used up. 12 “And the Lord saw it and was provoked.” I appeared with exalted signs, and he provoked with judgments. He appeared with great wonders to raise you up, and he provoked with punishments for your strengthening. 13 “Because of the provocation of his children”: full of correction. He was patient with the whole congregation; because of this he let their sons and daughters come together, and again they all gathered because of this. 14 “Children in whom there is no faithfulness”: this is a great rebuke. Woe to the person whom it does not shake. 15 “They roused my jealousy with what is no god”: with sinful desire. Woe to them for what they did. “They provoked me with their follies” ten times and did not stop, but you spoke for them, and the provocation was taken away from them by my word, because of the prayer of Moses. I would have wiped out the memory of them from among humankind, but in truth it was the covenant with their fathers that I turned toward him! How merciful and gracious is the great King, who tears apart no creature. To whoever serves him he shows himself patient. He corrected the congregation of Israel in order to teach them the truth. So let them take these words to heart, and if you rely on them, you will be wise in heart. “As a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.” With great, patient forbearance he spares you. Wake up, guard your soul and follow the True One. Keep it, so that it may keep you; it is a healing for every sickness. The book of the great prophet Moses brings healing; with the remedy prepared by the True One it promises a guide. But whoever resists him is brought to hell. He is entirely good, a pious guide who does not go astray on the way that pleases the merciful and gracious God. This is the great King who made the prophet great and strengthened him in everything! Merciful and gracious is this great King, who honored the prophet and set him over all that belongs to Him. 16 Exalted is the great prophet Moses, the trusted one, who stood in the fire of the True One. When he began to instruct Israel, he said at the start, “Ask your father, and he will tell you” what he did for your sake, Israel. He perfected them with spirit and made them strong in every good thing. Praise the great King, who called Israel “my firstborn son.” That is why he gives you everything glorious! As he did for Abraham, so he confirms it to this one too: “And Abraham gave all he had to his son Isaac.” Whoever fills his father’s place is also made his equal in the inheritance. So it happened to his descendants too: he called their name “firstborn son,” and they were joined to him. Merciful God, besides whom there is no other! He glorified Israel with overflowing goodness! 17 “Ask your father, and he will tell you,” and let your heart rejoice in all he has done for you: how he crowned you with his glory; how he gave you a share of his goodness; how he fed you with bread from heaven; how he delighted you with the Sabbath; how he gladdened you with the festivals; how he killed your enemies before you; how he shaded you with the cloud; how he split the sea and led you through it; how he sweetened the bitter water; how he let you drink water from the rock; how he made a curse into a blessing for you, and greater things than these; how he let you hear his voice from heaven, and you heard his words out of the fire. Recognize this glory, keep it in your heart and thank God for all these gifts, and know that no people among all the nations of the world has been honored like you. Ask your father, be a pious son and stand firm in his faith. And bless the great prophet Moses. He said, “Remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,” the perfect ones. “And when your son asks you” is the saying of God; “Ask your father, and he will tell you” is the saying of Moses. Let us thank our God with great faith, hold his greatness in honor, listen to the saying of Moses and hold to him, so that we may obtain mercy. 18 Ask “your elders, and they will tell you”: for God taught them through the great prophet Moses, so that they might be perfect. Abraham too says the same to you: “Do not profane the Name of God who led me. Do not profane the circumcision that made me holy. God blessed; do not flee his blessing, or you will bring his curse on yourself. And honor the face of the old.” When this is understood, we will thank the merciful God, who increases his mercy at every time and hour. And honored be the great prophet Moses, who said, “You grew fat and sleek.” In the phrase “fat and thick” the word “sleek” is also included: anyone who looks ruddy is well. A child who submits to his teacher Moses for instruction is praised as good! That is why Israel asked for what had been pledged. It went out of Egypt laden with blessings that a king paid; it received what belonged to it. So you too will go into the land of Canaan and be “crowned with every glory.” “Houses full of good things” are set aside for you. Praise God with thanks and say with an awed heart: There is only one God! 19 Let us follow the great prophet Moses and listen to his word, so that we may live. Let us obey what he teaches us; and here he begins his rebuke. 20 “And the Lord saw it and was provoked.” When he saw them grumbling at the sea, he bore with it, because they were in great distress. Yet it was a hidden sin, and in the wilderness it grew great. They said, “Leave us alone now; let us appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.” They grumbled likewise at Elim, and he bore with them and gave them rest. But it was a sinful paradise they set up there, when they said, “Who will give us meat to eat?”, though they had eaten the food, the manna, until they were overfull. They grumbled again at Rephidim, and you did not grow tired of them, for they were thirsty and quarreled; it was a sin! There they quarreled with the great prophet Moses. They said, “Give us water. Will you put out the eyes of these people?” “A little more and they will stone me.” And Moses and Aaron fell on their faces. Those who had quarreled there went on to quarrel here, and more than this. They said, “These are your gods,” and Aaron accepted the invitation to the feast, ate with Israel and bowed before the calf. “And the Lord saw it and was provoked.” He saw it and bore it. He would not have borne it, but he thought: perhaps the remnant will praise the True One because he left it. 21 So it is: we are the remnant. So let us ask him that we may not be the remnant of the rebellious, for their chosen ones are not hidden from him either, and the Lord is innocent toward us, whom he has chosen. If we are not willing, we are not children in truth. So let us bow to the ground before our Maker and Creator, and we will be like the great prophet Moses when he bowed down, bent low and obtained forgiveness. When he, in his anger, spoke to his sons and daughters who were given over to sin, the whole people took off the golden earrings of their sons and daughters all at once, and so they were killed in their revelry. The same happened, rightly, to every married woman. This was the beginning of the disgrace. “Take off the golden earrings that are in the ears of your wives.” A daughter who had no husband did not go with them. That is why it also says: their sons and their daughters, their wives and their children, who joined together in sin. Praised be the Abiding One, who remains the same in eternal life through all times and their changes. Let us praise him for his great goodness and grace, who sent us a righteous prophet full of glory. 22 “They are children in whom there is no faithfulness.” Zimri, a prince of a father’s house, committed fornication; this sinful prince came from a warlike tribe. Hear Jacob’s saying, which he spoke about him: “Into their company … for in their anger they killed a king.” That is why the True One repeated the saying through his prophet: whoever steals his father’s heart is not to be trusted, and whoever does not spare his father, who will believe him? Whoever relies on his own understanding breaks the bridle of the True One. So he deserved to be cut off. Had it not been for God’s mercy, for the merit of Joseph and his house, and for his father’s sake, Simeon would have become like Cain. That is why it says, “They are children in whom there is no faithfulness.” He rebukes them all for Simeon’s terrible deed, and also for Reuben and what he did to his father: he robbed the pure and innocent one and defiled his bed. That is why he calls them “children in whom there is no faithfulness,” for these two are joined in his rebuke. Righteousness belongs to the Judge, who shows no partiality; sinful people cannot enjoy his goodness or be protected in their sin. The pious are raised up and the sinners brought low. 23 “They provoked me”: a sinful matter is the testimony of sin according to the saying of God, “and they tested me ten times.” How long acting crookedly, how long were they to despise me? “How long shall this evil congregation …?” Three times before, three times this was spoken, and each is worse than the one before! How long the stubbornness of those who came out of Egypt lasted: from Ishmael they learned his hardness there. How long will this people test me? Their children who came after them learned it from Esau. 24 “How long shall this congregation sin!” This evil assembly went so far as to say, “Let us appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.” For at the sea they split into three groups, and each group made a declaration, and the great prophet Moses answered: grasp his saying! 25 The first group said, “Let us go back to Egypt; we will serve them, for it is better for us to serve them than to die in the wilderness.” The great prophet Moses said to them, “You will never see them again.” 26 The second group said, “Let us flee from the Egyptians into the wilderness.” The great prophet Moses said to them, “Stand still and see the help of God.” 27 The third group said, “Come, let us fight the Egyptians.” The great prophet Moses said to them, “The Lord will fight for you, and you keep still.” 28 At every time God rebuked with his great goodness and grace, and when Israel provoked him, God said, “I will destroy them,” but the man Moses prayed and said, “Turn from your fierce anger.” Because of his prayer He relented of the evil he had spoken of bringing on them. Praised be the Merciful One, whose mercy atoned for his servants and kept them. If only we would repent and so keep their children, so that they may know his grace and walk in his favor. Let us believe in him and in Moses his prophet, humble ourselves before him and say: There is only one God!
1 Let us listen and hear his saying: “I will wipe out their memory from among humankind.” Whoever destroys, that is neglects, my commandments, I will destroy his memory. Whoever lets himself be led by his own reason and will not learn, I will visit him with my judgment and destroy his memory. 2 If you read to him and he does not listen to what is read, I will visit him with my judgment and destroy his memory. 3 Whoever resists the truth and sets up the lie, I will visit him with my judgment and destroy his memory. 4 Three heads banded together against me, and I visited them with my judgment and destroyed their memory. The people of the Flood: when their misdeeds were complete, I visited them with my judgment, and so on. The people of Sodom: when their misdeeds were complete, I visited them with my judgment, and so on. The Egyptians: when their misdeeds were complete, I visited them, and so on. 5 And three others: when their sins were complete, their punishment came by my judgment, but I did not destroy their names, because their sins had been handed down from their fathers to the fourth generation. But when they became enemies, they were rightly punished. From Enoch to Lamech is a sinful chain: Cain is the beginning and the people of the Flood are the end. After these, too, they began with Canaan, and their end reaches to Sodom. And further, a son who clung to his father received affliction, but his name was not blotted out. 6 And further, three kings who made themselves mighty before me: I revealed it with my judgment and destroyed their names. 7 Nimrod, when he thought himself great at the head of the army of the Cushites: at the height of his power He visited him and killed him. 8 Pharaoh, when he exalted himself and grew strong in his apostasy: at the height of his might I visited him and killed him. 9 Amalek, when he grew strong and his strength increased: I visited him with my judgment and destroyed his name. 10 Three of the righteous disregarded my commandments; they were punished by judgment, but their names were not destroyed. 11 Judah, when his fornication became known in the world: his punishment was with destruction, a warning for all generations. 12 Simeon, because he oppressed Joseph: I shook him with destruction, a warning for all generations. 13 Reuben, because he was like them: his punishment was by judgment, a warning for all generations. 14 And there were three who heard my voice and would not obey, so I visited them with judgment, and so on. 15 The calf worshipers: when their sin became known, I visited them, and so on. 16 And those who joined themselves to Baal Peor, I visited, and so on. 17 Korah and his followers, when they rose up against me and demanded what did not belong to them, I rooted out as a memorial. Take this to heart, learn from these and do not go near them, or you will be destroyed like them. Shut this up in a book and do not open it, for a serpent and the Evil One are in it. A fine entrance stands open to you; go into it in peace and look at three who gathered a rich treasure. 18 Noah laid out a path for the righteous, for in him the persons whom the Lord chose came together. 19 Enoch also opened the treasure of piety and fed his soul with the food of eternal life. And Enosh opened the treasure of praise and called on the name of the Lord, and so his offspring were all righteous. Consider these three and what they did, be like them and eat of what they ate. And three after them did as they did, stood up for the True One and served him sincerely. Abraham offered sacrifice in Noah’s paradise, and at the place where he offered he brought forth seed; he sowed, and from it he gathered a reward. From that seed he sowed, and from that grain came this seed. From him came an offering whose blood was not shed. 20 Isaac became great because he followed his father and let himself be taught by him. He stood in his place and received, and so it says, “And Abraham gave all he had to his son Isaac.” Jacob kept their ways and did not turn aside from them. 21 “And he strove with God and with men.” He became great in blessing and became a perfect man. These three were united in every glory, and their memory will never be forgotten. See, two are bound together as one. One lived in a place, and one lived in a place; Joseph lived in his father’s place, took of what belonged to him, bought it for himself, and it became his property too. And the great prophet Moses lived in the tent of the Lord, who chose him. God chose the one and the other and gave a reward to the one and the other. 22 And three others are united with them in holiness: they chose the True One and did not turn away from him. Aaron was clothed with the priesthood, Eleazar was chosen in his place, and afterward Phinehas was zealous for God and received “an everlasting covenant” as his reward. 23 And two others stood unshaken in his service and were not killed, because they served him. They walked in piety and kept themselves from falsehood: these were Joshua and Caleb, who clung to the True One and did not stray from him, and so the Lord raised them up! Praised be the Merciful One, whose mercy rests at all times on the children of his love. This is a merciful and gracious God; let us keep his commandments, so that he may protect us. And let us believe in Moses the prophet. Whoever follows him does not go astray or sin, and is subjugated neither here nor there. 24 These are the ten consolations with which the great prophet Moses comforted Israel. “He will strengthen him in a desert land,” and no adversary will be against you when you wander. Whoever follows him and holds to God, against him the enemy can do nothing. “So that the wild animals do not multiply against you.” See, if you are pious, they will all be subject to you. So it was with Adam when he sat at the entrance of Paradise and the animals were led past him to find out what he would call them. Since there was no apostasy yet then, all the animals submitted to him. And when Cain was told, “You shall be a restless wanderer on the earth,” he was afraid of the wild animals of the field and said, “And it will happen that whoever finds me will kill me.” This matched his evil deed: whoever does evil is repaid for it with punishment. When Israel obeyed its Lord, it was said of it, “And Israel lived in safety,” and its heart was full of joy. A great saying! Praised be the One who spoke it, and let the great prophet Moses, who proclaimed it, triumph! 25 “And he guards it like the apple of his eye.” The eyes of the Lord God are on it from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. Your eyes have seen the great work of the Lord that he did. So it happened because of Joshua, when he said, “Your eyes have seen all that the Lord did to the two kings and to Baal Peor.” He slew its worshipers and destroyed all who followed him, and he set you high above all nations. “And he guarded you as one guards the brows over his eye.” Become like them and do not be rebellious; see, God is merciful and there is no one besides him. Great prophet, no one of human seed has arisen, and no one will ever arise, like him! 26 “As an eagle watches over its young, so you will lie down in peace, and no one will make you afraid.” Whomever he lays to rest is blessed; no evil encounter has power over him. 27 Look: when Jacob fled from his brother, the glory of God said to him, “Trust in your Lord and do not be afraid.” With him is a resting place; yes, with him the weary finds a resting place. It is at the holy place, where the angels always dwell. It is a place where everyone who flees to it goes away in peace and dwells in comfort. Seek it out! Is that not why I commanded, “And you shall make me a Tabernacle, and I will dwell in your midst”? He had mercy on you, heard your pleading, and you were made holy by his glory. He dwelt in the midst, and no enemy was able among them to dwell. This is the merciful God, and there is no one besides him; he watches over and keeps all his beloved. And Moses, the faithful prophet, heard the voice of the Lord and received life, that is, the Law, and he kept the whole congregation of Israel alive. 28 “And he hovers over his young.” When you were in Egypt in great distress and harsh oppression in the hands of your enemies, he made his power visible. He freed you from there and for your sake revealed exalted wonders in Egypt, at the sea and in the wilderness. He did it because of his great love for you, and also to keep the oath he swore to your forefathers. “And he protected you with a cloud from the heat by day and from the cold by night,” as a bird hovers over its young. Thanks be to this King, who feeds, keeps alive and protects. And may the great prophet Moses be glorified, whose prophecy is true, who said: 29 “He spreads his wings and takes them up.” As God said, “And I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself,” he did it because of his great mercy. No woe will befall you if you recognize this glory and do not defile yourself; be wise! He took you out of the hand of your enemies and led you through the sea on dry ground in great glory. He carried you on the hand of love, protected you and freed you. And he killed your enemies. And when Balaam came with his cunning, you turned his mouth to your blessing. Consider God’s love for you, and love him, as he commanded you: “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” Happy are you if you are filled with this love of his. The great prophet Moses was glorified, who opened his mouth, moved his tongue and said: 30 “He made it ride on the heights of the earth.” 31 From then on the angels went with it. Where is a king who could stand against it? And when they made ready for war against Midian, they killed all the men, with whom were five kings, and plundered everything that belonged to them, and not a single one of them could rise up against them. And when they crossed the Jordan, where was there a king who could withstand them? This is what the wise saying means, that they are to rule over the heights of the world in both times. Israel, call this to mind and do what pleases God, so that it may go well with you and you too may rule like your forefathers. For we have been promised: a son will arise for you who is filled with the fear of his fathers. Then no enemy can destroy us. Now, Lord our God, let us keep your laws and fear you all the days of our life. 32 “He fed him with the produce of the field.” “And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, places full of every splendor and every delight, you will eat your fill.” Do not let what you swore slip from your memory, and do not forget your Lord. You are to fear the Lord your God and serve him on the blessed mountain, for with him is every blessing; and when you arrive there you will find everything great and glorious, and you will add nations to yourself and take what belongs to them. Great King beyond all searching, what a great King, who remains for ever! His mercy is always present with goodwill, every hour and every moment. “He made him suck honey from the rock and oil from the flinty rock.” He has done exceedingly great deeds for you, from the beginning until now. When your enemy commanded the midwives, “Look at the birthstool: if it is a son, kill him, and if it is a daughter, let her live,” their bodies stayed as usual. When the time of birth drew near, they withdrew into the wilderness, to the tops of high rocks, and they sat on the rocks and gave birth. When the mother saw that it was a daughter, she let her live; and when it was a son, they hid him in a vessel and left him in the wilderness, as Hagar had done. Did she not say, “Let me not see the child die”? The merciful King sent angels, and they let it suck honey from the rock and oil from the steep mountain. And they surrounded it, as it is said, “He found him in the wilderness, surrounded him and watched over him,” until he grew up and was weaned and became wise through his goodness, and he brought him to his father’s house. So he also dealt with us in the wilderness: he rained down food from heaven, and it tasted as if it had been baked in honey, and at times it was like cakes made with oil. And when the infant grew strong, he fed him from the rock. 33 The great prophet often warned them against hardness: “Do not stiffen your necks any longer; do not harden your heart, and your heart grows proud and you forget the Lord your God.” Children of the age, wake your souls from the long sleep and return to the truth, for you are the children of the perfect fathers. Every good thing was given to you because of your elders. Through his mercy we have always had support; may he grant it to us in full. We will love you and keep your commandments and do what you have commanded us. Blessed are you in truth, for you are the Creator of all, and you are found in your goodness. We believe in you, as in your great prophet Moses and in your Scripture, which was brought down through Moses from your holy height, from heaven. 34 When the great prophet Moses had finished speaking of the honey and oil, he said, “With butter from the herd and milk from the flock.” This points to Abraham’s table, which he prepared in the grove of Mamre. This is a hidden treasure for his sons. Isaac’s vow led him to something similar. Jacob too honored this service that his father performed and brought sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And he commanded his sons in the same way: on Mount Gerizim, there you are to offer the Passover, the sacrifice of deliverance, from your flock and your herd, after the Lord your God has blessed you, a vow and a freewill offering. Let us all offer in truth, as the Lord commanded us. And let us praise and sing, bear witness and say: There is only one God. 35 Thanks be to the merciful God, who has revealed light to us from his great wisdom! Let us humble ourselves, submit to our Creator and listen to the words of his warning, which he gathered up for us with the light of his prophecy in this great Song. There are ten words that he spoke one by one before the assembly with great majesty.
1 “For a fire is kindled in my anger”: that is, Sodom and Gomorrah, a sinful and impure place. When a priest became impure, fire purified him. And so he says, “You are to make yourselves holy.” Guard yourselves against the fire: it consumes the earth and its produce; you cannot sow and nothing will sprout; the earth and those who live on it are destroyed because of their sins. Then holy Gerizim will be recognized. And he said further, “I will heap evils on them.” In this world they are burned like Sodom, and on the Day of Vengeance I will consume them with arrow and bow. Let the world take note and see what happens to them as the punishment for the sins they committed. “Wasting hunger is their food,” and you will eat and not be satisfied. This is their reward. “Burnt bitter stalks”: that is, false prophecy; “poison and wormwood”: that is, the impure Panjah. 2 “And I will send the teeth of wild beasts against them,” and the earth will swallow them. Woe to us, for “so we will be given over to the fury of creeping things in the dust.” They will come into our houses and bite us. “Outside the sword bereaves, and in the chambers terror,” so that not a single one remains. Listen to these words and pay attention, so that you may remain in all glory and well-being. You have always been our protector; yes, God will protect. And when you praise God, God will increase you. As a true son of Eden said: When you praise God, God’s glory will be revealed to you, and his glory will shine on you. Keep the commands, so that he who chose you may guard you. So do not delay in coming; but if you profane yourself, you will find no one to take you by the hand, and you will regret it, but there is no one to give you comfort. Yet your God is merciful and gracious, near to all who seek him. 3 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you?” Only that you fear him. And if you obey his commandments, he will also listen to your voice. If you fulfill his commandments, he will also confirm his blessing to you. If you fear him, all the nations of the earth will fear you. Through the power of keeping the commandments you will be uppermost; they will be humbled before you, and your enemy will be at the very bottom. Open the book, the Law, and read in it, and he will open to you the treasure of his goodness. “Great glory, surpassing greatness, great blessing, lasting rule, exalted dominion! Double radiance, delightful treasure, blessed store! A spring that never runs low!” This is the glorious table of the Holy One, at which the divine beings who speak the blessing sit. At it the perfect are gathered. In the holy dwelling lives his priest, to whom honor is given, whose companions are angels, the servants of the sanctuary. The bread at it is precious; those who eat it are the holy ones. Blessed be the great Name; the great prophet Moses ordained it. Adam founded it, Noah built it, Abraham renewed it, Isaac consecrated it, Jacob established it, and Joseph the king kept it faithfully. Let us praise God with sincerity. So the great prophet Moses commanded us, and so, like him, we will obey no one else, whether concerning the Law or concerning his statutes, by neglecting them. Let us serve our Lord, bear witness before him and say in faith: “There is only one God.” 4 Blessed be the faithful prophet Moses, the man of God, who taught what God had taught him. No great prophet like him has arisen, and none will arise, like Moses, who was entrusted with the hidden and the revealed. And the Lord said of him, “No prophet has arisen again in Israel like him.” Who can exchange the Law of life? He warned us against it. Who is like him? Let us listen to his voice, so that we may live. We will stand on the truth and hold fast to it; then we will recognize their lies and guard ourselves against them. He leads us on the way of rescue and keeps us far from the path of destruction. Let us heed his words, for in them is life, and let us keep them, for by them we endure. His words are like oil, a healing for all our wounds. No evil comes near the one who accepts them from him. “For I the Lord am your healer.” If you are faithful, turn away from the abomination of the Egyptians; do not act as they do and make no covenant with them, for they are sinners. And do not bow down to their gods, or you will be destroyed in the Time of Disfavor, because you turned after them. The Lord is God, and there is no other besides him. May his name be praised for ever! 5 The Lord called Israel “firstborn son”; but if one does not obey his father, then Canaan is better than he! 6 The Lord called Israel “firstborn son”; if one does not recognize his glory, then Nimrod is better than he. 7 The Lord called Israel a chosen people; if one does not recognize his goodness, then Ishmael is better than he. 8 The Lord called Israel a holy people; if one profanes his holiness, then Esau is better than he. 9 The Lord called Israel a king; but if one does not keep his kingship, then Judah is better than he. 10 Listen to the words of your Lord and fulfill his commandments, so that he does not pronounce a sentence for your destruction. Consider the great prophet Moses, how he honored you and how he raised you up! 11 With ten titles of honor he honored you, so that you may purify your soul and not profane it. “He fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel,” as he promised Abraham: “I will multiply your offspring like the stars of heaven.” 12 “For the Lord’s portion is his people.” “You shall be holy, for I the Lord am holy.” “Make yourselves holy and remain holy,” if you keep my holy words. Four times he said this, and so you are to grow in holiness. 13 “Israel is the portion of his inheritance.” “And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” 14 And with praises you let it settle: “And when it came to rest, he said, Return, Lord, to the myriads of Israel,” for their increase at all times. 15 “He led Israel around and instructed him.” “And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, so that the people might hear what I say to you.” 16 “Jacob ate and was satisfied.” “And you shall eat and be satisfied and praise the Lord your God,” because he has shown you favor. “And of all that you give me, I will give you a tenth.” 17 “He grew fat,” from his fullness. “And the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.” “And if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, all the nations of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord,” and it is a blessing. Three words are joined with distinction, and the Taheb is also signified by it. 18 “Rejoice, you nations, with his people”: this is my people and my possession; they will rule over the whole world. Thanks be to God, the Merciful, whose mercy endures for all generations. He lives for ever in his own being; he neither grows nor diminishes. Who knows where he is, or who can find out what he is like, or recognize where he is, or who can reach him? He is God of gods, an everlasting ordainer; he has no ally; he is Lord of all lords, victor in wars, and no other god is with him. He created and completed without a model. Let us praise him in faithfulness and serve him in purity, and bear witness and say: There is only one God! 19 Consider the great prophet Moses, how he took up again the discourse he had begun with the ten words, which he now sets out one by one. “He fixed the boundaries,” and he joins to this saying “according to the number of the children of Israel.” “And may your offspring be like the stars of heaven”: twelve above and twelve below. And when he says “like the stars of heaven,” he means that they will never need the stars’ guidance. But the nations of the world, because they have neither the Torah nor the Law, entrust their guidance to the stars. Yet the Torah and the Law are in your hand, Israel! Look at Balaam and what he wished to do! Because he did not hold to the teaching, he was utterly destroyed. So hold fast to the Torah, and then no enemy can do anything against you. He can do so only if you exalt yourself with sinful desires. So make yourself firm in the Torah, “and keep its commandments, so that you may be fruitful and multiply and possess the land,” and all these whose boundaries were set apart from the days of Peleg, “for in his days the earth was divided.” 20 And the second saying: “For God’s portion is his people, Jacob.” So it was from the earliest times: he revealed his high standing to him then and increased it with sanctifications, the sanctifications of the Sabbath and the delights it holds, and the sanctification of the festivals. And further he increased it with statutes and commands, and with God’s own handwriting, the Ten Commandments. This is not found in any nation greater than you. Keep what your Lord revealed to you in it, and do not turn aside from it. And learn what Moses has taught you. 21 The third saying: “Jacob is the lot of his inheritance,” from the day the Lord commanded, as it is said, “And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests”: those who hold the priesthood are to serve their Lord. “And a holy nation”: “all his holy ones are in your hand.” “Fat of the herd”: that is Joseph, a serving ox; his fat is wholly consecrated, meaning his best is consecrated to you. “Observe the month of Abib; when you come to the land of the fathers, you are to sacrifice from your oxen and your sheep at the place he has chosen to make his name dwell there.” 22 O God, Merciful One, and there is no other besides him. Happy is the heart in which he dwells. He is a good Archon, who speaks with the creature of dust so that its love for him may grow. 23 O God, Merciful One, and there is no other besides him. He formed two worlds with one word. He called Moses and sent him, so that his mercy might be valued. 24 O God, Merciful One, and there is none besides him, who created and also completed, and there is no other god besides him. He let Moses hear his voice and gave him life, to give life to Israel through it.
1 Let us hear from the great prophet Moses what he taught about the three glories named above. And twice over he announced to them the ten judgments prepared for the guilty, so that they would not stray from the bounds of the truth and have their bones punished with strangling on the Day of Vengeance! When he began to speak before them, they listened and feared the word of God. 2 “And I will make them jealous,” and to strengthen it he adds the words “with those who are no people.” “The Lord will raise a nation against you from far away,” an everlasting vengeance, chastening them to humble them. And the Lord “will scatter you among all the nations,” if you do not take care to serve the True One. “And he will leave you few in number among the nations.” “And you will be defeated before your enemies.” Great is the disgrace! Woe to the guilty one for what happens to him when the True One reveals himself and takes his stand to call to account! What will his answer be then, when God questions him? A reward is prepared, whether for good or for evil. 3 The second saying: “With a foolish nation I will provoke them.” “A nation of fierce face”: it is not known; it comes from outside. It will be judged in its denial; against whom has it rebelled but the Lord! A reward is prepared for every provoking deed: whoever kills brings punishment on himself. So it was with Cain, Cush and Nimrod. Each of these was punished according to his deed. Cain murdered and became a restless wanderer on the earth. Cush, when he saw his father’s nakedness, was cursed, and he and his descendants were clothed in darkness for ever. And Nimrod, who made himself strong, had his power weakened, and because of what he did he was put to death by strangling. Woe to the person who acts foolishly. Zimri the sinner, woe to his deed! Let us fear God, who brought us near to life and warned us against death! 4 The third saying: “How can one chase a thousand?” Woe to you, guilty, sinful person! “And they will stumble over one another,” and he is destroyed. Woe to the person whom guilt pursues. “And you will perish among the nations.” It is the seal of sin. “And you will become a byword to all the kingdoms of the earth.” No enemy will pursue you: your deeds are your enemies, and your words are your sword. Woe to the person whom guilt kills and whose speech is a strangling sword. Let us turn away from this work and not come near it, for our Lord and our prophets warned us against it. Let us praise him at all times for his great goodness, and not exchange his commandments. For we are holy and are called by the Lord’s name. If we still make ourselves impure, it is done knowingly by us, who are the children of the holy ones. And as a son in whom the Lord delights, when we are rejected, it happens with this knowledge! A holy people and a son whom the Lord chose: it happens with this knowledge. So let us renew our repentance and increase our mourning for what we have done. Let us deepen the lament over our souls for what we have done. How evil is the deed that brings judgment and increases destruction, when the true, the true Witness appears to punish! 5 We saw it and still we did not fear. One was punished in his heart, one in his soul, one in his spirit, one in his body, one in his possessions and one in his children. Widows went astray, orphans were guilty, boys fell away, women in childbirth turned aside! How sad was their end; how all glory was turned into curse, all good into evil, all security into fear, all comfort into hardship, and every multitude into a few! See the deed that was done in the Garden of Eden! Life was driven out and death brought in. Darkness grew strong in the heart, and chastisement increased in the world. Cain’s heart was hardened and he became a restless wanderer. You banished him and his descendants because of their sinful perversity. Again you rose up against the people of Babel and scattered them over the face of the whole earth. You burned the people of Sodom, destroyed the Egyptians, wiped out Amalek, stoned the son of Shelomith and rooted out Korah; the earth swallowed him. You pursued Zimri, struck Balaam and killed him; he came from those who worshiped the calf. And you burned the descendants of Judah; such was their reward. So we will keep away from it and not come near it. 6 “How could one pursue a thousand?” This means us. We have no army and no king, no prince, no sword, no bow, no spear and no shield. There is no one to pray for us and no priest to atone for our sins and work for our purification. We are truly ruined, and the Tabernacle is destroyed. If only you would have mercy on all of these and bring each of them back to its place! Bring back, yes, bring back all the glories that protected us. For the sake of the oath sworn to the fathers, fulfill it for us and let it stand, and take from us the saying, “And they will fall though no one pursues them,” and “How could one pursue a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight?” “And they will stumble over one another as before the sword”: this saying is full of zeal, and there is no pursuer. “And you will have no power to stand before your enemies.” Great is our confusion, mighty is our persecution; who will lead us? Happy the person who has good works to lean on so as to be delivered. But the guilty one, to whom can he turn his face? Who has mercy on one who rebels against his Lord? All the nations are astonished at our sufferings! They say, “They are no longer called ‘a holy people,’ no longer called firstborn; they have no possession, no priests and no sanctuary, and they no longer hear the voice of the living God!” Woe to the sinner who does evil with all his strength! “May the Taheb come in peace, unite the world and restore the heads of the people as they were before.” 7 The fourth saying: “Had their Rock not sold them.” When the misguided saw the golden calf burning, they said, “Where is your god?” What they said then, Moses had in mind when he said, “If their Rock had not sold them, but the Lord repaid them.” He did not want to kill them until the calf was burned. When they saw their god burned in the fire, their spirits grew weak and they fell by the sword, and nothing was left of them; he repaid them. With their rock he sold them. The calf had no Torah, no commandment, no statutes and no judgments. It made no voice heard, it did not create, it did not set in order, and it sent no one with sign and wonder. It is worthless, the work of human hands; it does not hear, does not see, does not breathe, does not taste, does not comfort. So at God’s command they were shut in, and so it is said, “Whoever sacrifices to other gods shall be banned.” The name of Levi is exalted above all the tribes. He was appointed judge to judge the congregation; Moses appointed the Levites to it. Where is anyone like Moses? 8 The fifth saying: “In time their foot will slip.” “The tender and delicate one among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot” on the path of sin. “His foot slipped; he fell into abominable sin.” And what about the commands? “You shall not turn aside to the right or to the left.” The land of Canaan is the right, the land of Egypt is the left, and the way of truth is in the middle. Whoever turns this way or that, his foot slips. As with the sinners before them, their sentence too is set from the sole of the foot to the head. The great prophet will rejoice, Moses, who increased the number of people who believe in God, for the righteousness of his prophecy is proved true.
1 The sixth saying: “For the day of their calamity is near.” “Let me alone, and I will destroy them and blot out their name!” See, you will first lie down with your forefathers, and what happened afterward? Israel turned to foreign gods. Whoever has sinned shall surely die! Measure for measure it comes to the sinner; with a hard reward he is punished on the great Day of Judgment. Yet a great remnant remains, of whom it was said, “And they will sit at your feet and receive your words.” Great majesty and lasting rule are multiplied for all who are beloved of God. We begin to set out one by one the sayings that cover what befalls the righteous. Blessed be the Merciful, who is ever the same in his greatness. To eternity he is the light of the world; his righteousness makes up one great order. The world was blessed when the light of the great prophet Moses shone. Treasured for all eternity is the faithful prophet Moses, who opened his mouth and spoke this. 2 The seventh saying, a saying in which their fortunes and their upheavals are contained. This is the saying: “And he hastens the things prepared for them.” Because of their sins he pays them their wages, and whoever did good is rewarded likewise. As it was said, “He shows kindness to thousands of those who love him and keep his commandments, to the thousandth generation.” “He visits the sins of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.” So it will happen to us; so let us renew our repentance, so that it may go well with us and we may stand free of guilt. It is a day of vengeance for all sinners and a day of recompense for all the pious; for all human beings a day of resurrection, a day of vengeance for all sinners, a day when they must give account of all their offenses, a day of payment for the pious and the sinners. A day of resurrection because of the guilt incurred by the offenses of all creatures. A day of quaking for every foot, a day of trembling for every limb. A day of reckoning for every deed. A day on which each person receives his reward. A day of judgment, a day of weeping, a day of reward, a day of assembly, a day of truth, a day of terror, a day of resurrection, a day that brings forth out of the earth, a day of disaster for all sinners, a day of joy for all who obeyed. A day on which the Lord of the world reveals himself and cries out, “I, I am he, and there is no other beside me.” He calls to his creatures as he wills. The earth splits open in its great fear, and all are laid bare as in an instant, and all at once they rise up. The earth trembles before him, and a cleft changes. When it splits open over the righteous, a pleasant scent of myrtle comes out of it, and a pleasant fragrance rises to the high dwelling. 3 And from the sinners rises the smell of their dust, as it was said, “And you shall return to dust.” It returns as earth, mixed with pitch and fire, and when the one and the other met, the difference between them was perceived. 4 The fragrance of the pious is accepted, and their clothes are new, as it is said, “Your garment shall not wear out on you.” Adam and Noah and the pious of the world stand before them, the angels of his favor surround them, the dew of the Merciful falls gently on them, and his light shines on them. The great prophet Moses rejoices with them, Aaron the priest is glad for them, his son Eleazar delights in them, Phinehas lifts them up, and Joshua, Caleb and the seventy elders praise them. The Lord’s favor rests on them and on us, and of them it is said, “And Israel will dwell securely, alone.” This is the end of the pious, the possessors of his radiance, the Shekhinah, because they kept God’s commandments and did not withdraw from them. 5 And the sinners who stand opposite them: when their foul smell rises from the stinking earth, mixed with pitch and fire, they grow dark, their clothes are torn and their faces are downcast. Of them it was said, “Why are your faces downcast today?” Cain and Lamech, the people of the Flood, the people of Babel, the Amalekites, and Korah and all his company strike at them with their hands; the angels of wrath surround them, dust and ashes fall on them, and their eyes are dim. The great prophet Moses stands vindicated before them, Aaron and his sons are angered, the great fire consumes their bodies, and God has no mercy on them. And the True One says, “I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh.” This is the end of the sinners on the great Day of Judgment. 6 The pious rejoice, and the clothing of each of them did not wear out on them, because they loved the stranger and gave him bread. Their faces shine, because they did not turn their faces away from anyone who asked them for something. Their hands are full of light, because they did not close them against giving alms. Their hearts are full of light, because they spoke nothing worthless, and their souls are pure, because they loved the Lord with their soul, their heart and their might, as it is said, “And you shall love the Lord your God.” Their feet were not cut off, because they walked after the Lord, as it is said, “You shall walk after the Lord.” All this will be revealed on the Day of Recompense. 7 And the sinners are in great discord, and their clothes are torn, because they took the widow’s garment in pledge; their faces are black, because they turned away from every poor and needy person. Their hands are cut off, because they closed them against giving alms. Their hearts are burned, because they did not serve the Lord with joy and a good heart, and worthless sons ruled over them. Their souls are numb, because they had no zeal for the Lord. Their understanding is darkened, because they went whoring after them. Their strength is weak, because they did not hold fast to his commandments; and he struck them from head to foot, because they dealt in slander and did not fear, because of this deed, the Day of Vengeance that is appointed for all these deeds. Whoever has committed a sin in the world and not repented has no rescue from it then. Woe to the guilty one: for what he has done, a consuming fire is prepared for his bones and bitterness for his soul! Happy the pure one, for he has won this dew of heaven and its bliss. This precious thing, the dew from the Garden of Eden, delights him; yes, it delights him! He has assigned a great portion to the pure; though he is despised, he will be in great glory in this world and the next. The great prophet Moses rejoices, whom his Lord sanctified and raised to a rank that no one of Adam’s seed has reached, none before him and none after him, for ever. 8 The eighth saying, which alarms everyone who hears it: “Where are their gods?” This one, who bowed down before an image, the work of human hands? Whoever made an image and bowed down to it, the Day of Judgment will change his image. Whoever bowed down to a creature and made it his support, who will rescue him when the True One appears? Whoever humbled himself before anyone but the Creator, who will set him free when He rises on the Day of Vengeance? Let us turn back from the way of error and walk the way of the pious: it is a pleasant way for everyone who sets foot on it. This way is beautiful; let us walk on it, for you are called to it! What was to come upon you, you need not fear. Let us listen to the words from the mouth of the True One and never turn aside from them; so let us believe, because of the glory he will give us! 9 The ninth saying: “Will they give you protection?” On that great day the Lord of the world comes among all the nations that bowed down to the stars, the sun, the moon, the fire and every image, and to the worshipers of Baal Zephon and those who served the calf and Baal Peor. And when they all come, they see these fallen down. Then the True One says to them: “These are your gods, whom you followed, led astray by your own understanding! Let them rise up and support you; let them give you protection. But I am the one who was a protection to Abraham in the valley of Shittim, when he said, ‘I raise my hand to the Mighty One, the Most High, ruler of heaven and earth.’ Let your gods do today what is in their power. Take your reward now! In anger they will be burned! Fire, burn them, ‘for they made me jealous with what is no god.’ With their abominations they provoked me; they defiled my Tabernacle, profaned my sanctuary, bared their faces in sin and multiplied their falling away from me. They laid waste my vineyard and destroyed my house. They turned aside from the truth and destroyed the Time of Favor. They went away from me and kept what belongs to my enemy; so they repaid the kindness shown them. How can I hear a cry from them on the day of their disaster! Let them cry out for ever, and I will not answer. I warned them, but they did not obey. I made them wise, but they became foolish. I honored them, but they became rebellious. I taught them, but they forgot. I raised them up, but they fell. I did them good, but they did evil. Why should I spare them, why should I have mercy on them, why should I relent for their sake? Why should I grant them my mercy? I will withdraw my goodness from them and hide myself from them. Because they forgot me, I have forsaken them, repaying every action according to the deed!” 10 These words are not addressed to ignorant people but to us. Woe to us if we will not learn that we are punished, because we have heard that we are the children of the pious and that the oath of the True One belongs to us. So we will not withdraw from the truth or do evil, or turn aside from God’s way, or forget God’s Law, or abandon the gift that makes wise. The gift of favor appears to us in the world, rest and security are restored to those who hold fast, and we will be at peace, not tremble, and stand firm in our dwellings. If only the great prophet Moses would intercede! For to him the light is a lasting memorial that lengthens life. If only Aaron would bless! For his prayer is before us. Do we not hold the truth of the Law in our hands, as he said, “It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may do it”? With his hand it was written, and with his hand it was given. So we praise our Lord in sincerity and bow before his greatness with deep reverence and say: There is only one God! 11 The tenth saying. When the great prophet Moses had made the Day of Vengeance known to Israel, he proclaimed it to those who are delivered from it, but only to those who possess piety, do good and keep the commandments. To those who walk in the way of truth he proclaimed deliverance. May the Taheb come in peace and rule the city that he has chosen for the sake of the pious. When the elder of his father’s house was a boy, he was brought up in wisdom, and his heart was filled with knowledge through what he learned, and of him it is said, “He was a perfect man, dwelling in tents.” The power of his insight, shown in his rule, passed to Joseph; so after his slavery he was rewarded with rule, and those who oppressed him came to seek his glory. His brothers did wrong in what they did to him, and he was vindicated by what they did to him! “Where is one like Joseph, enlightened and wise, in whom is the spirit of God?” He was king of the city, so his bones were carried by Moses, the trusted one of the Lord’s house. There is no king like Joseph and no prophet like Moses. 12 The two ruled over two high ranks: Moses is the king of the prophets, and Joseph the king of the blessed mountain. No one is greater than the one or the other! Praise to our God, who himself rules the world without ceasing, and there is no other beside him. Holy is the prophet who was sanctified by the hand of God, and through him every kind of glory is revealed in abundance. “No one has arisen like Moses, and no one will arise for ever.” A prophet who rose above every human camp and reached out until he joined the angels, as he was told, “I will add you to the host of angels.” Where is anyone like Moses, to whom the Lord said, “And stand there with me”? Where is a prophet like Moses: “He spoke with God mouth to mouth”? Where is a prophet like Moses: “He fasted forty days and forty nights; he neither ate nor drank”? And he came down carrying two tablets of stone written with the finger of God. And further I proclaim my sayings; I proclaim them all to those who practice piety. “May the Taheb come in peace, to rule the city of the perfect and reveal the truth.” 13 Listen and hear, stay with the truth, purify your understanding and prepare yourself: “For the Lord will judge his people.” The people of God, Jacob, a shoot and a head. A shoot from their forefathers, children sprung from Noah. And this saying reaches as far as the Taheb, guaranteed because of the perfect, who are exalted above all. So he said, “And for his servants’ sake he will relent.” For they do not rise with any blemish, for they walked the path of righteousness; on the Day of Judgment they will be spared every plague, and their souls will enjoy freedom in full in his kingdom. He comes to them in peace, opening the graves wide: “And none of them remains shut up or left.” There the word of the True One begins, and he gives light to the world. How magnificent is this hour for the one who dwells there, for there the voice of God is heard ringing through the world. All creatures stand in order, their heads bowed, their hearts faint, their eyes closed and their limbs trembling for fear of the Day of Judgment. And the mouth of God says, “See now that I, I am he.” Only those who obeyed and became wise are set free. 14 “See! I taught you statutes and judgments, and I set you free. I, I am the Abiding One, at the Beginning and on Mount Sinai. I, I am he who was, and there is no one besides me. I, I am he who was before there was any place or any Eden. I, I am he to whom eternal life belongs. I, I am he who raised up and spread out with my power! I, I am he who made the garden and destroyed Sodom. I, I am he who destroys and rescues. I, I am he to whom all belongs and to whom all returns. I, I am he who returns to take vengeance on my enemy.” Happy are we if we now delight in the True One and tremble before his power, so that we reach the way of bliss. Let us not neglect the praise of the Lord at any time or hour, so that we may rise up, begin with every glorious thing and go up to the city that is full of love and mercy, where all its inhabitants will be well. O merciful God, and there is no one besides him; O true prophet, exalted pious one! 15 Now with full understanding let us return to the saying, “For the Lord will judge his people.” Know that every soul receives its reward here. My people knows how it was kept alive by my goodness and surrounded with my glory. See, when it was said to Pharaoh king of Egypt, “Let my people go,” for your people destroys a great guilt, on the Day of Vengeance the one will be paid back by the other. So the great prophet Moses says, “And because of his works he will relent.” Whoever turned away will be punished, and whoever obeyed will be rewarded! Happy are the obedient, and woe to all the guilty! And further he says, “And he will have mercy on his servants,” a word full of glory: the Taheb rises, and the Lord has mercy. At the place of the Day of Vengeance, at the place of the shameful calf, his anger blazed and he wished to burn his people; then the great prophet Moses prayed, he turned his anger away, and he had mercy on the remnant that had not made the calf. On the Day of Vengeance too the great fire grows stronger, but it has no power over whoever stays with the True One, because he has kept the words our Lord commanded us. For the Torah is life and length of days for whoever has kept the great word of the great prophet Moses. 16 “And none is shut up, but set free.” Those shut up are the ones who committed sin, and those set free are the ones whose sins are forgiven. Where is anyone like Moses, and who is equal to Moses? He is exalted above every human camp. By the insight God granted him he said with a prophet’s mouth, “See now that I, I am he.” “Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.” For his servant, firm and perfect in insight, proclaimed it, and the word “Hear” is the foundation of worship. I am the Lord, and my name is Ehyeh asher ehyeh. The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! At the beginning and also at the end, I, I am he; when this call is heard on the Day of Judgment, the one shut up and the one forsaken is destroyed. See, you, Israel: whoever learns this delights in it! See now, see, I have taught you. I, I am he on the Day of Vengeance. “Take care, and watch over your soul closely”: it is a day of judgment, “and there is no god beside me.” And watch over your soul closely! Happy the man who leans on his Lord and walks in his favor; see to it now! 17 “I have seen, I have seen it, and I have come down to rescue it.” I, I am he at the beginning and at the end. I am the one who said, “Abraham, Abraham,” and who said, “Moses, Moses.” I, I am he; my greatness is beyond searching. When he was called, he said, “Here I am!” And the great prophet said, “Here I am.” Praise to the Lord, who said: I! I! I honor Abraham and Moses in this world and at the end. And woe to the person who has no enlightenment to recognize the ways of faith: Abraham became a head through what he did, and the prophet Moses became a head through what he revealed! No one is like Abraham and no one is like Moses, and the True One taught this. Blessed be he who abides for ever; his duration is eternal. When he spoke, the whole world heard it; this happened at a time when nothing existed but him. “I, I am he”: Abraham and Moses. Abraham is the head of the righteous; to the one and to the other he said it. To Abraham he said, “I am God Almighty.” And to Moses he said, “I am the Lord.” 18 Abraham killed the kings who hated the True One and destroyed their gods with a mighty victory, and the prophet Moses judged their gods and destroyed their worshipers; so he said, “And there is no god beside me.” And he begins the whole with a great saying: “I kill and I make alive.” I kill every guilty one and everyone who denies me and everyone who writes what is unworthy; is it not so? All the pious he keeps alive. And this Scripture that is in their hands before me returns to me, and my name and my commands and ordinances, and all my judgments and all my teachings contained in the Law, are from the mouth of the Great One; it was made known through the Scripture. As I am the Abiding One, so my Scripture also endures. “I live for ever”: my glory and my Scripture alike. “I live for ever.” It is a great saying when he says, “And truly, as I live, the glory of the Lord will fill the whole earth.” “I live for ever.” 19 Abraham and Moses are two pillars. Whoever turns away from Abraham is the son of a stranger and rebellious; and whoever turns away from Moses is like the son of Shelomith. Both were stoned, for they were rebellious; their fathers, the whole people and everyone who looked on, he brought back to their origin. Let us humble ourselves before our God and Creator and believe in him and in his prophet Moses, who revealed life to us, for he said, “For this is your life and the length of your days.” Let us look up with the eyes of understanding and listen to what the great prophet Moses said to the congregation: 20 “And there is no rescue from my hand.” “Is God’s hand too short?” The hand of the Lord God rules and is lifted high. With it he carries out everything through his greatness and brings everything back to its origin. So he says “hand” and “hands.” If it is as he testifies, it is a just testimony. But woe to the testimony: if it is false, he will destroy it. And from my hands there is no rescue! He proclaimed this saying because of the statements of witnesses, so that no false testimony would be found in the world; for when a hand was stretched out to false testimony and the innocent was killed, there is no rescue from my hands, and he cannot free himself from me. And whoever kills is guilty. Moses did once kill an Egyptian, but it was done for the sake of the congregation. 21 Praised be God for ever, and blessed be his name for ever. And the Lord’s peace be upon Moses, the son of Amram.
Intertextual Commentary on Memar Marqah Book 4
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