1 Songs and praises which Solomon the prophet, king of Israel, spoke by the Spirit of Prophecy before the Lord of all the World, The Lord Ten songs were spoken in this world, this song being the best of them all. The first song Adam spoke at the time his guilt was forgiven him and the Sabbath Day arrived and protected him. He opened his mouth and said, “A Psalm, a Song for the Sabbath Day” (Psalm 92). The second song Moses said with the children of Israel at the time the Master of the World divided the Reed Sea for them. All of them opened their mouths together and spoke the song, as it is written: “Then sang Moses and the Israelites” (Exodus 1). The third song the children of Israel spoke at the time the well of water 2 was given to them, as it is written, “Then sang Israel” (Numbers 17). The fourth song Moses, the prophet, uttered, when his time had come to depart from the world. And by it he reproved the people of the house of Israel, as it is written, “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak” (Deuteronomy 1). The fifth song Joshua, son of Nun, spoke when he waged war in Gibeon, and the sun and moon stood for him thirty-six hours and they ceased to utter the song [of their praise]. He opened his mouth and sang the song, as it is written: “Thus sang Joshua before The Lord” (Joshua 12). The sixth song Barak and Deborah said on the day The Lord delivered Sisera and his camp into the hands of the Children of Israel, as it is written: “Then sang Deborah and Barak, son of Abinoam” (Judges 1). The seventh song Hannah said at the time she was granted a son from before The Lord, as it is written: “And Hannah prayed in the Spirit of prophecy and said” (1Samuel 1). The eighth song David, king of Israel, said because of all the miracles which The Lord had performed for him. He opened his mouth and spoke a song, as it is written, “And David praised in prophecy before The Lord” (2Samuel 1). The ninth song Solomon, King of Israel, said by the Holy Spirit, before the Master of all the World, The Lord (Song of Songs). And the tenth song the children of the Exile are destined to say at the time they are redeemed from Exile,⁠a as it is written and explained by the hand of Isaiah the prophet, as it is written: “You shall have this song for joy, as on the night the feast of Passover is sanctified, and for gladness of heart, as the people who go to appear before The Lord three times a year with varieties of music and the sound of the drum, to come up to the mountain of The Lord and to worship before The Lord, the Strength of Israel” (Isaiah 29). 2 Solomon the prophet said: “Blessed be the name of The Lord who gave us the Torah by the hand of Moses the great scribe, inscribed on two tablets of stone, and [gave us] six orders of the Mishnah and the Gemara by oral tradition, and conversed with us face to face (as a man who kisses his companion) out of the great love with which He cherished us, more than the seventy nations. 3 “At the sound of your miracle and might which you performed for the people, the House of Israel, all the nations who heard the report of your might and good signs trembled; and your Holy Name was heard in all the earth, and it was more choice than the oil of high office with which the heads of kings and priests were anointed. And therefore the righteous loved to follow the path of your goodness in order that they may possess this world and the world to come.” 4 When the people of the House of Israel went out from Egypt, the Presence 3 of the Lord of the World was their leader; it went before them with a pillar of cloud by day and with a pillar of fire by night. The righteous of that generation said: “Master of all the World, draw us after you and we will run after the path of your goodness. So draw us near to the base of Mount Sinai and give us your Laws from your treasure house of the Firmament. And we will rejoice and be glad with the twenty-two letters with which they are written and we will be mindful of them and will love your divinity and will remove ourselves from the idols of the nations. And all the righteous who do what is upright in your sight will revere you and love your commands.” 5 When the House of Israel made the [Golden] Calf, their faces grew dark like the children of Cush [Ethiopians] who dwell in the tents of Qedar. And when they turned in repentance and their guilt was pardoned them, the splendor of their faces’ glory increased like the angels, because they made the curtains for the Tabernacle and the Presence of The Lord dwelt among them. And Moses their master went up to the Firmament and made peace 4 between them and their King. 6 The Assembly of Israel said to the nations: “Do not despise me because I am darker than you, because I have done according to your deeds and have bowed down to the sun and the moon. For false prophets caused the powerful fury of The Lord to be drawn down upon me. They taught me to worship your idols and walk according to your laws. But the Lord of the World, who is my God, I did not serve and did not follow after His laws, nor keep His commands and His Law.” 7 When the time came for Moses the prophet to depart from the world, he said before The Lord: It has been revealed to me that this people will sin and be carried into Exile. Now tell me how they will sustain themselves and live among the nations whose decrees are as strong as the heat of the noonday sun at the summer solstice, and why they will be carried away among the flocks of the children of Esau and Ishmael who treat their idols as Your companions. 8 The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses the prophet: “If the Assembly of Israel (which is compared to a beautiful young woman whom my soul loves) wishes to wipe out the Exile, let her walk in the ways of the righteous, let her order her prayers by the mouth of the shepherd’s assistants 5 and the leaders of her generation; let her teach her children (which are compared to the kids of goats) to go to the Synagogue and the House of Study and by that merit, they will be sustained in the Exile until the time when I send the King, the Messiah, who will lead them in rest to their dwelling-place, the Temple that David and Solomon, the shepherds of Israel, will build for them.” 9 When Israel went out from Egypt, Pharaoh and his army pursued after them with chariots and horsemen, and the way was closed for them on four sides. On the right and left were wildernesses that were full of fiery serpents, behind them was the wicked Pharaoh with his armies, and in front of them was the Reed Sea. What did the Holy One, Blessed be He, do? He revealed himself in the fullness of His strength at the Sea. He dried up the sea, but the mud He did not dry up. The wicked (the mixed multitude of foreigners who were among them) said, “He can dry up the waters of the Sea, but the mud He cannot dry up.” At that time, The Lord became very angry with them and He would have drowned them in the waters of the Sea just as Pharaoh, his armies, his chariots, his horsemen, and horses were drowned–if it had not been for Moses the prophet, who stretched out his hands in prayer before The Lord and turned back the anger of The Lord from them. And he and the righteous of that generation opened their mouths and sang songs. And they passed in the midst of the Reed Sea on dry land by virtue of the merits of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the beloved ones of The Lord. 10 When they went out to the wilderness, The Lord said to Moses: “How fit is this people to be given the Law’s commands!–which will be like bridles between their jaws so that they do not depart from the good path, just as a horse which has a bridle between its jaws does not depart. And how fit is their neck to bear the yoke of my commands!– which will be on them like a yoke is on the neck of an ox that plows in the field and supports himself and his master.” 11 Thus it was said to Moses: “Come up to the Firmament, and I will give you the two tables of stone hewn from the sapphire of My glorious throne, bright as pure gold, arranged in lines, written by My finger, upon which are inscribed the Ten Commandments, refined more than silver purified seven times seven (totalling forty-nine, the number of ways to interpret what is in them), and I will give them by your hand to the people of the House of Israel.” 12 And while Moses their rabbi was still in the Firmament to receive the two tablets of stone, the Law and the Ordinance, the wicked of that generation and the mixed multitude among them arose and made the golden calf, and they corrupted their deeds. And they earned a bad reputation in the world. While previously their fragrance had gone forth in the world, after this they smelled like nard, which has a terrible odor, and the plague of leprosy came down upon their flesh. 13 At that time The Lord said to Moses: “Go; descend, for your people have done wrong. Go away from Me and I will destroy them.” Then Moses turned and begged mercy from The Lord. And in their favor The Lord remembered the binding of Isaac, whose father bound him on the altar on Mount Moriah. And The Lord turned from His anger and made His Presence dwell among them as before. 14 Listen! Then Moses came down with the two tablets of stone in his hands but his hands were heavy because of the sins of Israel–and the tablets fell and were broken! Then Moses went and crushed the calf, and scattered its dust in the river and made the Children of Israel drink, and he killed everyone who deserved to be killed. And he ascended a second time to the Firmament and prayed before The Lord and made atonement for the Children of Israel. Then he was commanded to make the Tabernacle and the Ark. At that time Moses hurried and made the Tabernacle, all its vessels, and the Ark, and he put in the Ark two other tablets. And he appointed the sons of Aaron the priest to offer up the sacrifice on the altar and to offer a libation of wine at the sacrifice. And where did they get the wine for libations? They were in the desert, weren’t they?–not a convenient place for agriculture; and surely no figs, vines, or pomegranates! But they went to the vineyards of En-Gedi and took bunches of grapes from there and pressed the wine from them and offered it as a libation on the altar, a quarter of a hin for each lamb. 15 When the Children of Israel did the will of their King, He praised them with His Word in the household of the holy angels. And this is what He said: “How beautiful are your deeds, My beloved daughter, Assembly of Israel, when you do my will, engaging in the dictates of My Law! And how proper are your deeds and affairs!–like turtledoves, the nestlings of doves that are fit to be offered on the altar.” 16 The Assembly of Israel replied before the Lord of the World and this is what she said: “How beautiful is your Holy Presence when You dwell among us and receive our prayer with favor, when You cause love to dwell in our bed and many children to dwell on the earth, and we increase and multiply like a tree planted by a spring of water, whose foliage beautiful and whose fruit is plentiful!” 17 Solomon the prophet said, “How beautiful is the Temple of The Lord that was built by my hands from cedar! But even more beautiful will be the Temple that is destined to be built in the days of the King, the Messiah, the beams of which will be from the cedars of the Garden of Eden, and the pillars of which will be from fir, juniper, and cypress.”