Memar Marqah Book 5

A narrative on the verse “And Moses the servant of God died there”

1 We will proclaim words that are exceedingly exalted. Whoever has understanding, listen to the words! Great is the word I am about to speak, for it alarms those who speak it and astonishes those who hear it. Come then, you who listen, turn your minds and hear the words, for they are exceedingly exalted. 2 We will set out the momentous section before we speak of the glory of the son of Amram. There has never been anyone like Moses, and there never will be. He reached the understanding of creation and came as far as the Day of Vengeance. Where is there one like Moses, and who is his equal? He is the one to whom the Lord entrusted the hidden and the revealed! 3 “And God spoke on that very day to Moses”: this word came at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. “And God spoke on that very day to Moses”: over this day let your hearts weep, all the congregation of Israel. “And God spoke on that very day to Moses: Go up this mountain of Abarim, Mount Nebo, and die there, as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor by the sentence of the True One.” Bitter was the moment when he heard all those words from the Creator. The great prophet Moses raised his voice and praised the Lord, the Abiding, the Eternal. He prayed, gave praise and bowed before his God, and his mouth did not stop declaring what is praiseworthy. He said, “Glory to you, my Lord, true Judge, who show no partiality to any person, not to the prophet and not to the pious.” Great was the dread that then seized every being when they heard the Lord say all this to the great prophet Moses. 4 The powers among whom he had been consecrated on Mount Sinai cried out to the Lord, “Let death not come near him!” The five books and the ordinances they contain pleaded with the Lord, “Let death not come near him.” The Name with which he was invested on Mount Horeb pleaded, “Let death not come near him.” 5 The Alaf said, “Far be it, far be it!” and pleaded that death not come near him. 6 The Alaf said, “I stand for One: there is no God but the One, and no prophet but Moses, the son of Amram.” 7 The Alaf said aloud, “You who dwell in secret, far be it, far be it, that death should approach him.” 8 The Labad cried aloud on his behalf, pleading with the Creator that death not come near him: “He wrote me at the end of the Law, for at God’s command he wrote, ‘before the eyes of all Israel.’ He wrote me as the last letter of the Law he received. I am like the keeper of a treasure, so I plead on his behalf: let death not come near him and not harm his soul.” 9 The He cried aloud on his behalf: “As for me, I stand for five. The Scripture also consists of five books, and he bore a name of five letters, Elohim. So I plead: let death not come near him.” 10 The Yod cried aloud on his behalf: “I too stand for ten, by which Israel became known, the ten that are the foundations of creation, of deliverance and of the attributes of God; and I am the beginning of the great Name. So I plead on his behalf: let death not come near him.” 11 The Mim cried aloud on his behalf: “I am the beginning of his name and the end of the names Abraham and Adam, and in his father’s name I appear twice. For as many days and nights as my number he fasted, as it is said, ‘forty days and forty nights.’ So I plead: let death not come near him.” 12 The sea also cried aloud for his sake: “He who divided me with his staff and dried me up, who revealed forty portions to the people, does not deserve to die.” 13 The fire cried aloud on his behalf: “My strength devours; yet when he set foot on me I was like dew beneath his feet, and I neither hurt nor harmed him. So I plead that death not come near him.” 14 The cloud cried aloud: “I covered him on Mount Sinai. From within me the Lord called to him, and within me he came to him. So I plead that death not come to him.”

1 The prophet stood before the Lord and heard how every being pleaded for him that death not come near him, and the Lord answered them all: “The day of the journey has come. No plea will be granted today.” Bitter was the moment when the great prophet Moses heard the plea made on his behalf and the answer the Lord of the universe gave them about him: “Today is the end. My prophet Moses is passing away, and so your plea is of no use.” It was a glorious thing to see the great prophet Moses when he heard all those words. At once he prayed before the Lord, bowed, and raised his hand toward the holy place, while his tears poured down like rain. He wept bitterly, not for himself but for the people. He cried out with a raised voice: “Woe to you, people! I am going away and leaving you behind, and after my death you will go astray. Who will plead for you? Who will guide you? Who will watch over you after me? I am turning away from life and being lowered into the grave that Adam dug. I will never reach the good land; it is closed to me. The end of my journey has come. Today I leave the world and die. I have no long reprieve. I was sold through the serpent’s word, swept away by Eve’s eating, pledged because of Adam’s indulgence. I have no strength that lasts for ever. Righteousness is yours, Lord; the crown of life belongs to you, who show no leniency in judgment and no partiality to anyone, not to the prophet and not to the pious. Righteousness is yours, True One; righteousness is yours, Judge, for you are entirely just and true.” 2 Then the great prophet Moses, who had bowed before God at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, rose. He called Joshua the son of Nun, told him everything that had happened and said to him: “Go, my disciple Joshua son of Nun, go quickly to the house of the priests and tell them what has happened. Say to Eleazar, Ithamar and Phinehas that they should come here quickly, so that I may give them my farewell greeting. Go!” This is what the great prophet Moses said to Joshua at the entrance of the tent that he had pitched outside the camp, far from it, and had called “the Tent of Meeting.” From there Joshua, the servant of the great prophet, went off and hurried to the holy place. He stood before it weeping bitterly until those three came out: Eleazar, Ithamar and Phinehas. When they saw Joshua standing there weeping, they asked him what had brought him and why he had come weeping. He told them, while his tears ran down like rain, “My lord Moses is going up today to die.” At these words great grief seized the holy priests, and they were heavily burdened when they heard this news from Joshua’s mouth. They hurried on their way, and with them every member of the priesthood, and came to the great prophet Moses. On reaching him they kissed his face on this side and that and fell at his feet, and Phinehas son of Eleazar took trumpets in his hand and stood weeping before him. Then the great prophet Moses said to him, “Grandson of my brother, take your place with Ithamar at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting with the trumpets in your hands, and sound a teruah, so that all the people may hear it, come here and stand in order before me, and I may give them my farewell greeting.” So Ithamar and Phinehas took their places at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and sounded a teruah. When the people heard the blast of the trumpets they were terrified and said, “What can this trumpet call mean at this hour? It is not the time of the offering, nor the time of a teaching. They are sounding the trumpet in the tent of the great prophet Moses.” All the people were in fear and terror. 3 Bitter was the moment when the news came and it was reported that the prophet Moses was going to his death. The message that reached the tribes of Jacob distressed him and all the people. When the news had spread among the tribes that Moses meant to climb Mount Nebo to die, they all made ready and went in haste, one tribe after another, until they came to Moses’ tent: all the heads of the tribes, all the judges, all the elders of the people and the seventy elders. They all went until they came to the tent of the great prophet Moses. They sat in order while he told them what God had said, seated in the same order as when he had sung the Song. He set up a raised platform and stood on it, so that he could see all the people sitting in order before him and all of them could see him; they could not look at him enough. But he wept, and his tears were like rain falling from the sky. Then he taught them the Scripture, the great faith, the commandments, the statutes and all the ordinances God had given him. Joshua son of Nun also heard all this and took in everything he heard with a wise mind, as it is said, “Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom.” 4 The great prophet Moses stood there like the full moon, exhorting and teaching. He wept for the people of Israel, and his lament rose up to heaven. With a raised voice he said: “You who dwell in Machpelah, righteous ones of the world, wake up! Know, good father, son of Terah, head of piety and perfection, that the fences of the gardens you planted are being torn down by transgression and rebellion! Isaac, holy offering on the altar, sacrifice that was not slaughtered and whose blood was not shed, know that the possession you inhabited in your righteousness is falling to ruin through sin, struck by the rain of the curse, destroyed because of apostasy! Jacob, father of the tribes of favor, know that the tribes descended from you, whom God’s mighty help freed from Egypt through me, who heard the voice that called the Ten Words out of the fire, who saw what was done for their sake and how Balaam’s speech was turned so that he said, ‘How good are your tents, Jacob, your dwellings, Israel! Like streams pouring out in great splendor, like gardens by the river in great loveliness, like tents the Eternal pitched in holiness, like cedars by the water rising high into the air’ — all those praises will cease in the Time of Apostasy, and afterward the Time of Favor will be hidden. Evil will grow strong, God’s temple will be destroyed, Mount Gerizim will be defiled, and apostasy will rule everywhere. There will be no one who worships God.” 5 Listen and hear how the great prophet stood there and exhorted all the people, saying much to them: “You were rebellious against God during my lifetime, and after my death you will be even more so than now. As in the Song I sang, when the heavens listened and the earth heard the words of my mouth, so you too, come, listen and hear my words, people I have led, nation I have set free. People of the Holy One! Chosen nation! Let my glory not fade in you. Nation that was freed with an uplifted hand from the house of slavery, let my glory not fade in you after my death. As I set foot on the path of all people, crossing over on it, I am shaken in heart and mind by all I have seen of your rebellion and stubbornness. What will it be like after my death? Today it is said of you that you are exalted above all nations. Take care not to turn and sink to the lowest place. You are called ‘kingdom,’ ‘priests’ and ‘holy people.’ These titles of glory will vanish through your own doing. Joshua will lead you to Mount Gerizim, the house of God, which I wished to reach before my death, and Eleazar the priest will perform the service there and offer the sacrifices. All this will come to an end through you: favor will hide itself from you, and you will walk on a serpent’s path. What can I do?” My day of death has come. What can I do? 6 The great prophet Moses said: “My inner being is overcome because of the fruit Adam ate. The days of favor will be hidden at a time when I am no longer alive. If only a holy priest might live who, like my brother Aaron, would make atonement, so that no plague is seen! If only a holy priest might live who, like Eleazar, would make atonement for the people, so that favor does not cease! If only a holy priest might live who, like Eleazar’s son Phinehas, would rise up in zeal, so that the time of goodwill does not end! If only the pious would turn with heart and soul to the Lord, so that the time of goodwill is not hidden! If only I could stay here pleading earnestly, my hands raised to heaven, praying for the days of favor, that they may not be hidden! With a prophet’s eye I see the last of the generations, what will become of them and what will befall them. This is the message I bring to you, my people, a message that will reach the generations of the pious.” 7 The great prophet Moses said: “It will be for your good, my people, if you listen to all the words I have spoken to you. Three times my Lord said to me, ‘Come up to me,’ and twice I went up in the spirit of prophecy and brought down the tablets, the first time and the second. Now, though, the lot laid in Adam’s hand falls to me. Twice I went up and came back down, as God allowed me; this time I am going up without coming back down. But before I die I will give you a blessing granted by God.” He arranged the people before him until they stood in ranks. Earnestly he exhorted and blessed them before his death. Jacob and Moses both gave exhortations, the one by virtue of his piety, the other by virtue of his prophetic office. 8 Jacob gave the blessing to his twelve sons. The great prophet gave the blessing to six hundred thousand. Jacob gave his sons a blessing, each of them separately. Moses gave the people a blessing, each tribe separately. Jacob gave his sons a blessing full of praise. Moses gave a blessing full of glorification. 9 “This is the blessing with which Moses blessed”: in it he glorified the tribes of Jacob. 10 “This is the blessing with which Moses blessed”: he, foremost among the first and great among the last. “The man of God, the children of Israel before his death”: he, the prophet of truth, blessed the tribes of the pious. “And he said: God comes from Sinai”: he recalled the day on which He had called out the Ten Words, and Seir and Paran, where some of Abraham’s descendants lived. He came to them to bring the day of Horeb to life and set out the laws for them, but they hesitated and did not come to the truth. 11 “Moses commanded us a law, the son of Amram”: a holy law, handed down to the people of Jacob for all generations; it will never be done away with. “Moses commanded us a law, the son of Amram”: a holy law, given to a holy people set apart by God’s help. “Moses commanded us a law, the son of Amram”: the treasure is entrusted to the people, who will guard it for ever. “Moses commanded us a law, the son of Amram”: whoever reads it does not go astray, and whoever hears it will never stumble. “Moses commanded us a law.” 12 When the faithful prophet had finished blessing the people of Jacob, the tribes of Israel, he looked at the tribes standing in order before him, and at once he exhorted them as befitted their dignity: “Come, tribes of Jacob, stars of favor, people of God, keep God’s commandments, his statutes, teachings and judgments. Do not forget them, and do not let the urge to apostasy creep over you. Take care that your heart is not led astray. You careless people! Evil will come upon you at the end of days.” 13 He looked at Eleazar, who stood at his right side. He kissed his face and said to him: “You, my brother’s son, God’s deputy, who inherited the high priesthood, you stand in the priestly rank you inherited, and you carry out your duties in the sanctuary. You are rich in honor.” 14 He looked at Ithamar and said to him: “You, my brother’s son, are an anointed priest. In your hand is the charge over all the Levites and all the vessels of the sanctuary. Of you and your brother I wrote: ‘Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests before their father Aaron.’ Guard your priesthood and all the holy things entrusted to you. Do not turn aside from the path of truth, and strive to be found righteous before the Judge who shows no partiality to anyone.” 15 He looked at Phinehas, who sat at his left. Weeping, he kissed the hand with which Phinehas had taken the spear, run through the adulterous man and woman and turned the wrath away from Israel. He said to him: “Your zeal, my brother’s grandson, is known in every generation. If you see anyone who has fallen away, rise up and put him to death, as you did with Zimri and Cozbi, and so saved the lives of six hundred thousand by your zeal joined with the zeal of the Lord of the world.” 16 He looked at Joshua son of Nun and said to him: “Be strong and courageous, my servant, my disciple, for you are the one who will lead the descendants of Abraham, the sons of Isaac and the tribes of Jacob. You will bring this people into the land promised by oath to the pious. May the sun shine on you, and the God who goes before you will be with you. No harm comes to the one who has God at his side. Do not be afraid or dismayed.” The last of the words addressed to Joshua were: “Whom need anyone fear who has God at his side?” 17 “Come, all the house of Levi, keep your divisions and all the holy things in your hands. You are to teach Jacob the ordinances and Israel the laws. You receive God’s portion and may eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is your reward. Do not profane the sanctuary, or you will die. Consider what good the apostasy that will come at the end of days can do.” 18 “Be very much on your guard, you leaders of the tribes. If you drive peace out of the territory I have assigned you, the whole building will be destroyed and wrath will break out.” 19 “Take care, you judges, not to turn aside in judgment, take money or favor anyone’s person. You are not to listen to lying witnesses; on a single witness no case for taking a life is to be heard. Give true judgment, as God has said: ‘Judge justly in truth, so that you may live.’” 20 “You scribes, teach the people to keep the commandments, statutes, ordinances and teachings that God gave through me.” Everyone who held a particular rank was exhorted. So he ended: “I am going up with you to Mount Nebo, but you will never see me come down.” 21 “Gershom and Eliezer, my two sons, I bid you farewell for all time.” All the people stood before him while tears poured from his eyes like clouds, not for himself but for the people, for he knew that they would fall away, as He had said: “When you lie in the grave, this people will rise up and go to ruin.”

1 When the great prophet Moses had finished exhorting the people, he rose to his feet and looked at the six hundred thousand and their wives, and at his sons with their children, in their ordered ranks. The world was shaken at the moment he rose and set out to climb Mount Nebo and die. Eleazar the priest walked at his right and his son Phinehas at his left; Ithamar, Joshua and the whole priesthood walked before him with many tears. When the great prophet Moses arrived at the foot of Mount Nebo, every tribe came forward to him one after another, kissed his hand and bade him farewell, and so did the whole people of Israel, one after another, until it was finished. Then Eleazar, Ithamar and Phinehas came to him, embraced him, kissed his face and bade him farewell. Then Joshua son of Nun, his servant, came forward, kissed his face, fell at his feet and said: 2 “Peace be with you, trusted one of God’s house! Peace be with you, founder of prophecy! Peace be with you, who broke through the clouds! Peace be with you, who stepped into the fire! Peace be with you, who entered the dark cloud! Peace be with you, whose skin shone! Peace be with you, with whom God spoke mouth to mouth, in plain sight and not in riddles! Peace be with you, whose like has never been and never will be! Lord of the prophets! Your parting today is hard for me.” Then the great prophet Moses raised his voice and said: “Live in peace, my people, live in peace! After today I will never again walk among you.” When the people heard those words, boundless grief seized them. Weeping, they began to say: 3 “By your life, messenger of God, stay with us one moment more!” “By your life, last of the prophets, stay with us a little longer!” But God called out in secret, “Hurry!” “By your life, great prophet Moses, stay with us just one moment more!” But the Lord called out in secret, “No more delay.” “By your life, great prophet, do not go; stay with us a while longer.” But the angels of heaven called, “Hurry, Moses!” 4 When the people grasped this word, they all cried out: “Go in peace, prophet! Go in peace, our deliverer! Go in peace, honored one! Go in peace, faithful one! Go in peace, you who stayed where the hidden things are! Peace be with you, crown of the righteous of the world! Peace be with you, light of the prophets! You are the one whose like has not arisen among humankind and never will. At this moment you are leaving us, and we can no longer see you. Woe to the people that outlives you! Who will pray for us after your death? Who will turn the wrath away from us? We bid you farewell for all time!” 5 Now the great prophet Moses climbed Mount Nebo in great splendor, crowned with light. All the hosts of angels on high made ready and went out to meet him. When he left the people and was about to go up, the people of Israel raised a great cry of unspeakable lament, and their weeping rose up to heaven. When he had gone up a little way, he looked around while his tears fell like the rain of heaven for the people he was leaving behind. Then he went on a little further and looked back, like a mother with infants who finds no one to care for them in her place. He climbed a little higher and looked behind him, giving the people the blessing he had spoken over them on Mount Sinai: “The Eternal, the God of your fathers, multiply you a thousandfold and bless you, as he has told you.” He went up a little further, rejoicing at the meeting with God, turned his gaze toward the top of the mountain and saw the angels on high drawn up facing him. When the great prophet Moses reached the summit of Mount Nebo, he saw the ranks of angels waiting there to meet him, and the eyes of everyone of the people of Israel below were fixed on him; as they gazed at him, so he gazed at them. Bitter was the moment when the great prophet Moses entered the cloud and was veiled by it like the light. When the great prophet Moses was taken from the sight of the people of Israel, every one of them was overwhelmed and shed tears. They all said to one another, “The prophet Moses has been taken from us. Peace be upon him for all time!” How great was the despair among the people! They all stood in deep sorrow and said with raised voices, “The great prophet Moses has gone from our midst. Woe to us!” Their cry rose up to heaven, for each one of them, with tears running from his eyes like rain, said: 6 “Your end has come, crown of the pious! Your end has come, deliverer of the Hebrews! Your end has come, founder of the Time of Favor! Your end has come, worker of wonders! Your end has come, you who received the tablets! Your end has come, trusted one of God’s house! Your end has come, you who split the clouds! Your end has come, you who stepped into the fire! Your end has come, man of God! Your end has come, you who were called ‘God’! Your end has come, you with whom God spoke mouth to mouth! Your end has come, you whose face shone with light! Your end has come, you whose voice was heard together with God’s voice! Your end has come, you who brought life to the generations for all ages! Who will pray for us after your death? Who will atone for our guilt after you? Who will care for us after your death? Who will ward off the flame of wrath from us after your death?” 7 All this took place in Israel. But the angels of heaven rejoiced to go out to meet him; they came down from the exalted place to honor him. All the powers stood on Mount Nebo as their Creator had commanded them, for he was his faithful trusted one. The Glory drew near to him and embraced him. All the powers, hidden and revealed, came to glorify the man Moses. 8 The sea praised him seven times: “He was thrown into the water of the river; he turned the river into blood; he split the waters of the sea with his staff; he sweetened the bitter water by striking; with his own hand he wrote the law of the water that reveals guilt; he washed with the water of the basin, and his writing is like water. May that prophet whom all beings honor be glorified for ever!” 9 The heavens praised him seven times: “At the beginning of the Scripture he taught the first of all created things. He stoned his enemies from heaven with the hail that fell on the Egyptians. From heaven he subdued the rebellious when he performed the wonder of the darkness. His prayer brought the manna down from heaven in great abundance. On the summit of Mount Sinai he wrote the blessing of heaven: ‘He will send the rain of your land in its season.’ Heaven listened to his words when he said, ‘Listen, heavens, and I will speak.’ For ever may this light be glorified, which shone out from Amram and Jochebed!” 10 The earth praised him seven times: “He wrote at the beginning of the book of creation, ‘And the earth was formless and empty.’ For his sake the earth shook on the third day, as he wrote in the Law: ‘And the whole mountain quaked greatly.’ He wrote of the power of the earth: ‘And the earth brought forth its yield.’ It swallowed his enemies, as it is written: ‘The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households.’ He was raised above all human beings, as it is written: ‘The man Moses was very humble, more than all people on the face of the earth.’ May this great prophet Moses be praised, to whom the Lord of the world said, ‘Climb Mount Abarim and go up Mount Nebo,’ and to whom God showed the whole land; that was a great wonder without equal. The earth paid heed in fear when it saw heaven listening to his words, as he said, ‘Let the earth hear the words of my mouth.’” All this praise was offered to the great prophet Moses, whom no one among all Adam’s descendants resembles. 11 The fire praised him seven times: “First the fire was kindled for him on Sinai; at the beginning of his prophecy it was created for him, and out of it he was called twice by name, ‘Moses, Moses!’ That was a momentous wonder, whose like has never happened in the world and never will. He was also called out of the fire on the morning of the day of Horeb, from the summit of Sinai, in the presence of six hundred thousand. The fire blazed up to heaven, as it is said, ‘The mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven.’ He walked into it on his feet without being hurt, and under his feet it was as if the dew of heaven lay on it. When the priest offered the sacrifice for Aaron and his sons in the holy sanctuary, the fire flared out before the Eternal and consumed everything he had prepared on the altar, and he knelt and praised the Lord of the world, the Creator of all wonders. 12 “May that great prophet always be praised, who consumed what the fire had left over. His prayer also put out the fire, as it is said, ‘Moses prayed to God, and the fire died down.’ The fire consumed his enemies, as it is said, ‘Fire came out from the Eternal and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who had offered incense.’ 13 “I will always remember this great prophet Moses for good, for all this took place for his sake. No one will ever tire of remembering him.” 14 The cloud praised him seven times. The first of those seven is that the cloud went before him when he led Israel out of Egypt, as he said, “God went before them by day in a pillar of cloud.” This is the glory due to the great prophet Moses; who could tell even the least of his splendor? The cloud gave light before him, and through this a great wonder was granted him, for a cloud does not usually give light; it is usually dark. Yet through this great prophet Moses it gave light and was dark at the same time. So he also said, “The cloud was darkness, and it lit up the night.” When the man Moses saw that guide in the sea, shining on the beloved and darkening the enemies, he praised the Lord, the Creator of wonders and signs, and said, “Who is like you among the gods, Eternal One?” 15 For ever may that holy prophet be glorified, to whom the Lord of the divine said, “I am coming to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may notice when I speak to you and may always believe you.” 16 Great is the morning of Mount Sinai, the morning of the third day, when tremendous upheavals took place and the powers, the forces, the foundations, the angels, thunder and lightning were roused, with fire that leapt up to heaven and the cloud, of which we are now speaking, for the sake of the great prophet Moses, the man of God who stayed on Sinai. God called Moses in his great majesty; he went up, and God spoke with him mouth to mouth. There the cloud praised him, when the Lord came to him within it and he heard Him call out from the midst of the fire, “I am the Eternal, your God.” The cloud covered him at the time he was told, “I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by.” The powers held him up and the forces spread out around him. The Glory came to meet him, and the mighty God came down in a cloud, stood beside him and called out the Ten Words from his divine mouth. God’s peace be upon Moses, the man who climbed to a height no one has reached but him. When the great prophet Moses had set up the Tent of Meeting, the cloud covered everything in it, as it is said, “The cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of God dwelt within the veil.” For many days the cloud rested over the Tent of Meeting, and at that time the cry would go up, “Arise, Eternal One! Return, Eternal One!” Who has seen such greatness? God’s peace be with him. There was never anyone like him, and there never will be. At the time God had said to him, “Come up to me on the mountain,” and he came to Him, the cloud covered him six days. His body, already holy, grew holier still. From the dwelling of human beings he went up to the dwelling of the angels. For six days he pleaded and served before their King. He saw the mysterious place that stretched out in the fire in the midst of the cloud. On the seventh day he was called out of the cloud; he saw the hosts of angels in their ranks, and in great splendor he came down from the mountain. There is no one like him, to whom all those honors were granted. 17 Great is the wonder! How can death come near him? Yet the judgment of death is a true judgment, by which God judges all people. No one in the world escapes it, not the prophet and not the priest, not the king and not the judge, none of all created beings. They must all walk this path. 18 How momentous was the hour when the great prophet Moses stood on the summit of Nebo and all the angels of heaven glorified him there. The Lord lifted him up, opened his eyes to the light and showed him the four quarters of the land. Great joy filled Moses’ heart when He revealed to him the time after the Day of Recompense; so he did not fear death. Great was the joy that filled Moses’ heart when he saw the angels hovering above him on his right and his left, before him and behind him, and saw how the great Glory took his right hand, embraced him and walked before him. The great prophet Moses raised his eyes, saw Mount Gerizim, knelt down and fell on his face. When he had risen again, he saw the mouth of the cave open before him. At this sight he wept for humankind, but praised the One to whom eternal life belongs. Momentous was the moment when the great prophet Moses bowed his head and went into the cave. He turned his face toward Mount Gerizim and fell asleep, lying on his side on the green ground with his face turned toward what lay before him. God let sleep come over him, and his soul left his body without any pain, without his noticing it. 19 “And Moses the servant of God died there,” as God had testified of him: “My servant Moses.” “And Moses the servant of God died there”: he bound himself to the Lord as a servant to his master. “And Moses the servant of God died there”: at the command of God. Great is that prophet Moses, great, for everything that concerned him happened at God’s command.

1 I will always remember the great prophet Moses for good, after whose death the great honors vanished. The sun of his face will never be seen again; it is covered, gone down into the grave, and it will not come out again. The mouth of the cave will never be opened; closed by a divine hand, it does not open. He remains unknown until the Day of Recompense, as it is said, “No one knows his grave to this day.” The pillar of cloud that went before him vanished and will never be seen again. The pillar of fire that gave light by night and by day will never be seen again. The manna that fell from heaven through him was held back by God himself and no longer falls after his death. 2 The radiance that went out from his face went with him into the grave; it is no longer to be seen on his face. The prophetic spirit that he held within him and that gave him life has hidden itself and will never be granted to anyone. His names, twenty names in all, are these: Son, Young Man, Servant, Good One, Prophet, Faithful One, Righteous One, Moses, God, Man of God, King, Judge, Priest, Teacher, Giver, Savior, Helper, Prince, Honored One, Star. “The portion set apart for the lawgiver” is ended. God’s peace be upon him for all time, we pray. Those two brothers were holy, Moses and Aaron: the one as prophet, the other as priest. The one stepped into the fire, the other ate what the fire left over. The one died on Mount Hor, the other on Mount Nebo. Look further at those two holy ones, Moses and Aaron. 3 The wonders that came through the great prophet Moses came from heaven: “hail, locusts, darkness.” The wonders that came through the great priest Aaron came from below: “blood, frogs, gnats.” When the great prophet Moses stretched his hand over the waters of the sea, it split, rushed back and swallowed the hosts, as it is said, “You sent out your fury; it consumed them like stubble.” When the great priest Aaron spread his hands over the six hundred thousand and blessed them, the fire flared up before God and consumed the offerings and the fat on the altar. 4 Aaron was speaking to the assembled people of Israel in the wilderness when suddenly God’s majesty appeared in the cloud. When the great prophet Moses went out and told the people all God’s words, God came down in the cloud and spoke with him. May those two be glorified for ever, for no one has arisen among humankind like them. How alike Aaron’s death is to the death of Moses! Aaron, it is true, was buried by human hands, but Moses by the Divine. Three glorious ones received honor when they died: Jacob, Aaron and Moses, the great prophet. 5 Jacob was buried by Joseph the king, as it is said, “Joseph went up to bury his father.” Aaron the priest was buried by his son Eleazar and the great prophet Moses. All three went up Mount Hor, and only Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. Then all the people realized that Aaron had died. The great prophet Moses climbed Mount Nebo before the eyes of six hundred thousand, and all the angels stood ready to meet him. When he reached the summit of the mountain, a cloud came down, covered him and took him from the sight of all the people of Israel. 6 He was buried there by God, as it is said, “He buried him in the valley, and no one knows his grave to this day.” But what does “this day” mean? “The Day of Recompense.” Glorious is the tree that was planted in Amram’s garden; all generations feed on its fruit for ever. Glorious is the tree that was planted in the land of Egypt, moved to the wilderness and cut down on Mount Nebo. 7 Moses lived a hundred and twenty years: twenty in Egypt, sixty in Midian and forty in the wilderness. He completed them in glorious, surpassing exaltation, with prophecy and prayer. “His eyes were not dim, and his vigor had not left him.” His eyes were not dim, as with the patriarchs, the pious of the world. His eyes were not dim, for he was able to write down the Law, and he looked out over the four quarters of the world. His vigor had not left him, for he had received the garment that was taken from Adam in the Garden of Eden, and his face shone until the day of his death.⁠a 8 It did not cease, for he expounded the book of God’s Law and taught all Israel in the Scripture. The weeping of the children of Israel lasted thirty days, yet it never entirely ends. The standing of Joshua son of Nun, the disciple of the great prophet Moses, was exalted among the people of Israel. 9 Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hand on him. He was exalted then, and his glory is exalted for ever. No one will ever tire of recalling the glory of Moses son of Amram. Moses son of Amram was honored by God in his life and in his death. He wrote down the Law at God’s command and taught all Israel in it at God’s command, as it is said, “Put it in their mouths.” At the end of the Law he had received he wrote, “Since then no prophet has arisen in Israel like Moses.” Who performs wonders as Moses performed them before the eyes of all Israel? 10 “Moses commanded us a law”: the name of God stands at its beginning and the name of Moses at its end. I will always remember them for good, the pious of the world, the heads of righteousness, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who rest in the cave of Machpelah. I will always remember for good the righteous Joseph, the offshoot of the fruitful tree, who rests in that “plot of land.” I will always remember for good the one who rests on Mount Nebo, the righteous, the faithful, Moses son of Amram, the man of God and trusted one of the Divine, whose skin shone with radiance, who received the two tablets, to whom the hidden and the revealed were entrusted, the prophet Moses. 11 I will always remember them for good, the servants in the holy place, Aaron, Eleazar, Ithamar and Phinehas. I will always remember them for good, Joshua, Caleb and the seventy elders. Blessed be God for ever! Blessed be his name for all time!