3.

In the name of the great Living God, glorified be the exalted Light.

Splendour came to me in high measure, and light in great abundance in the worlds. The first plan of the angels came into being; they stand there and converse about me ... the man who cast me down from this my place to the earth ... Do not destroy the creation of the angels, and do not drive the exalted women from their place. Do not tear out the great foundation, for it was set in place by your right hand. Do not cast rebels into the Jordan; it is equal to its might. Do not tear down the dwelling that you have built, on the day when they stir up strife against you. Your sons ... Ethinsib ... came in glorious splendour. They wander about in all the dwellings; they wander about and seek their father, without finding him. Then the brothers gather together, the wicked take counsel with one another and say: "Our father has left the earth of the ether; with what can we stir up strife on his account?" Then Sam, their eldest brother, reflected within himself and said: "If I stir up the great strife, they will say: the eldest shows himself rash. You rather should stir up the great strife; you are still young angels. Whether you fail or prevail, they will say: they were young angels, and they will not hold your rashness against you on high. Come, stir up the great strife and lay waste the ordered works. Up, begin the great armed combat and the battle without end! Gird on the sword and put on wrath and ... arrows that do not miss. Put them on and go down to the earth of the ether, to the dwellings of this your father, whose earth they have destroyed, and for whom no throne stands on which to sit."

Then Ethinsib, the son of Yosamin, said to Nbat the Great: "Who bound Yosamin before you, to begin strife with him?" Then Nbat, the ruler of the ether, answered Ethinsib-Ziwa and said: "The King commanded, and the King had Yosamin bound. Who will begin strife with kings?"

Then Ethinsib-Ziwa opened his mouth, called out angrily to Nbat the Great and said to him: "Unworthy are you, and unworthy is the nest from which you came forth. Your father is no stout angel." Then Nbat the Great answered and said to Ethinsib-Ziwa: "Accursed are you, and accursed is the nest of your father ... used to settle strife. You are unworthy of the house of the great Living God, because you begin strife with a king."

Then Ethinsib-Ziwa drew his sword and threw himself upon Nbat the Great, the ruler of the ether. Once Ethinsib-Ziwa struck, but the sword did not pierce Nbat's splendour. A second time Ethinsib-Ziwa struck, but the sword did not pierce his splendour. A third time Ethinsib-Ziwa struck, but the sword did not pierce his splendour. Then Nbat the Great turned to Ethinsib-Ziwa and said: "You son of a shameless man, my form is not afraid of you." When Nbat the Great said this, the twenty-one sons of Yosamin drew their swords. The eldest put on his armour, the youngest clothed himself with weapons of war. They shout their war-cry and try their weapons against one another. The clashing of their weapons, the clashing of their implements of war, their uproar, reached the great King of Light. "How," he says, "has Yosamin broken through the prison and made it of no effect! Who brings strife among the angels and then hid himself?"

The angel Gubran saw it and said to the King of Light: "It is the twenty-one sons of Yosamin who stir up the great battle that cannot be settled." Then the King of Light said to Gubran: "Put on the armour and mount Parahiel. Put on the heavy weapons of war, go to the earth of the ether and look upon the sons of Yosamin ..."

Then Gubran took the great weapon, mounted Parahiel and betook himself to the earth of the ether. Then Gubran opened his mouth and said to Ethinsib-Ziwa: "You son of Yosamin, do not cast battle into the house of the Mighty. Go, ask forgiveness for your father. If he lets himself be entreated by you, so much the better. If he does not let himself be entreated by you, then be a servant before the King. Ethinsib-Ziwa, eldest son of your father ..." He spoke to him, but was not heeded. "See how wonderful the headband is that He gave me. You wish to destroy the earth on the word of the King, if you now stir up strife against the worlds of light and frighten them ..."

Then Ethinsib-Ziwa shot an arrow, but Gubran caught it with his right hand. A second arrow Ethinsib-Ziwa shot, but Gubran caught it with his right hand. A third arrow Ethinsib-Ziwa shot, but Gubran caught it with his right hand. The fourth arrow stuck in the hand of Parahiel. Parahiel cried out aloud, and his cry reached the King of Light. Then the King of Light spoke, in endless splendour and light. He called to the 440,000 angels who stand beyond. He calls to them and says to them: "Put on your armour, put on your implements of war, mount your stallions! Take the sword and ... arrows with might. Gird on the sword with wrath and mount your stallions!" The King of Light calls to them and commands them in splendour and light without end. He says to them: "When you reach the earth of the ether, bring me the head of Ethinsib-Ziwa, who rests in the lap of Bihrath-Anana, his mother. Fight with them, so that they may say: 'These are angels who have been sent.'"

Thereupon the 444,000 angels descend to the earth of the ether. The angels descend to the earth of the ether with lofty weapons, bearing the sword with wrath and the ... arrows with strength. Then Jawar-Ziwa slaughtered twelve sons of Yosamin with the sword. Bihram, the wise ..., took away the nine other sons of Yosamin with the sword. Yokabar, their brother, the dear son of Yosamin, cried out aloud. He cried out to his father Yosamin, and his cry travelled on and reached his father Yosamin. Then Yosamin said: "Who has killed my son, who has hindered my beloved?" By the cry that Yosamin raised, he burst the fetters from his hands and feet. Torn apart were the fetters and chains that the King of Light had had put on him. He rose to violent strife and called to mind the heavy rancour that was in his heart. From the gate of Sufath to the earth of the ether he destroyed all the dwellings he reached. When he came to the earth of the ether, he cried out aloud to Anana. The angels fell on their faces and did not hold themselves on high with their stallions. Their swords fell from their hands, and their arrows and steel spears did not stay together. The swords of the angels shattered, the strings of their bows shattered. They toppled and fell on their faces. Then Yosamin dismounted from his stallion, seized 24,000 angels who still stood on their feet, and threw them down.

Then the 360 earths went before the great King and say: "Struck off is the head of Gubran, who stood at the right hand of the King of Light." The earths tremble, and the mountains strike against one another. The King called out to Yosamin the cry of the Living God. He took from him the splendour, the great power, the lust for battle and the rage that he had in mind. He commanded that the heads of his sons be torn off, those who were with Anana, the mother of Ethinsib-Ziwa. He sent fetters of ..., heavier than iron, and they set him down at the gate of Sufath, until the appointed time. Seven hundred and fifty years he will wait in the great stocks, as long as the Great God desires it of him.

And the Living God is victorious.

4.

In the name of the great Living God, glorified be the exalted Light.

With sovereign power that belongs to me myself, with prayer and praise that belong to me myself, I have fixed the measure of the kings. I command the measure, I called after the measure, and the measure answered me: "Your measure is full!" I seized sword and sabre; the world that I did not create I will lay waste. The dwellings that my hands did not set up, I threw into confusion. With a loud voice [I cried] and brought strife on high. I diminished the works that were ordered, away from their place ... battle with myself ...

Nsab-Ziwa spoke to Yosamin as follows: "Did I not tell you not to stir up wrath and not to cast strife into the Jordan? It was not prescribed for you to stir up battle. When you were small, you behaved wisely; now one must call you a fool. You had a throne at the head; now they have set you at the gate of Sufath. You have laid waste the works that you established from your youth, so that of your former sons you have found not one as a companion. You have destroyed your earth and your building, and moved your couch [and your ...] away from its place. Wives were given to you; now they have been taken from you. Taken from you is the former clarity that the First had given to your mind. You have disturbed your great nest and laid waste the works that were well ordered. You have pressed down the great nest in the midst of the strife. So your form will be dissolved, and the exalted ones will put you on trial. A great, ordered ... will not be let go to the earth, and the ordered works will not be made firm. Without right you stand, Yosamin, and you did not let modesty enter your mind. You were heedless, accepted no command and no instruction, and would not receive wisdom from God. You did not care about the splendour of the Jordan, and you had no desire for instruction from the exalted women. You know, Yosamin, the word that the King has heard. When a word has once slipped from the mouth of the exalted world, it is repeated countless times. You insolent one! Do you not know, Yosamin, that a devastation of a thousand years is not restored to its former state in 24,000 years? Your stock was swept away in rebellion, and you have brought the great stocks upon your feet. You have done much ... ; now woe will not depart from you. You have let the tear rise in your eye; now it is like the water that flows down in the Jordan."

Then Yosamin answered Nsab-Ziwa and said: "I sought woe with my own hand; now I will bear it, and I will not let go of the exalted loyalty, but hold fast to it until the Great God does all that He intends."

And the Living God is victorious.

5.

In the name of the great Living God, glorified be the exalted Light.

When my father Yosamin was brooding in the stocks, he brooded in wrath and defiance. He brooded in the great stocks, to cast strife into the height of heaven, to look upon the great Life: "This one wants to wage war with me; so now I will stir up the great strife and cast grief into its soul. If it succeeds in tearing itself away from me, I shall see that there is no one greater than I on high; should there be anyone worse than I in the place of light? Great am I, and great is my splendour, and there is no limit to my praise."

When Yosamin said this, God knew it and said: "I will cover the deficiency in the works of Yosamin." He called Manda d-Haiye, wrote a letter, sent him, warned him with an urgent warning and said to him: "See whether his splendour is still great in him. Let him not say: Nbat the Great has fallen into hatred, and the King of Light into anger against me." Manda d-Haiye set out on his way until he came to the house of Yosamin. When he came to the house of Yosamin, Manda d-Haiye said to him: "Since you were not great, why did you exalt yourself? You were not great; why did you forge battle against Him? Woe and grief are mine because of you, Yosamin, that you are bound with the fetter of the Great. Your petitions are not fulfilled, and your cares weigh heavily upon you. You forget the command given to you; now the tear flows from you down to the earth." I say to him on high what was said to me on earth. I settled by Yosamin, and what they told me about him, that I tell him. "Yosamin," I called, "there is no uprightness in your disposition, no truth in your speech."

When Manda d-Haiye said this, Yosamin answered him: "Were you not a messenger, sent and come to me, I would strike you mightily and make your words of no effect. Your splendour would shine no more, and the light in which you stand would be extinguished."

When Yosamin said this, and Manda d-Haiye saw that his power was still mighty, for in former times he had been blessed ..., Yosamin then struck against his dwelling. I covered his splendour, and man by man they cast a chain around him. Thus I and the angels, my brothers, did not alter the commission that the King had given.

And the Living God is victorious.

Blessed be the name of Manda d-Haiye. And the Living God is victorious.

6.

On the day when the Lord instructed Yosamin, Yosamin rose from his throne. Yosamin rose from his throne, went to meet Manda d-Haiye and said: "Blessed be your splendour, you chief of the angels, who have risen over us."

And the Living God is victorious.

7.

In the name of the great Living God, glorified be the exalted Light.

When I pondered on Yosamin, I reflected in splendour and light, in revelation and instruction without end. By the power of the first treasure and of the word that my Lord had granted me, I reflected. To wage war against the Great Ones I formed the thought. Wrath and spite I conceived; I said within myself to wage war against the Living God, who was from of old. "Strife I will stir up in the light and rebellion I will kindle among the Jordans. A great battle I will wage, far-reaching and without end."

When Yosamin first devised his plans, he was not able to bring about anything hateful ...

Then the angels sent me with far-reaching measures that they gave me, as a messenger to him, clothed with wrath, ... bearing the sword. The messenger brought him the letter of the King: "Set Yosamin in the great stocks, as long as the Great God wills." When the messenger brought the letter, he did not greet him but called out to him: "Rise from your throne." Fear was in his mind, and he spat gall before himself. Then Yosamin rose from his throne, sat down on the earth and cried: "Who will cast bonds on Yosamin, because the King has sent in anger against him?" Yokashar rose from his throne and cast bonds on his right hand. Then Yosamin opened his mouth and said to the messenger: "How long is it since you saw my form and my stature and drank with me from one cup! How long is it since you ate a morsel from my table, and wove a wreath and laid it about your head! How long is it since you beheld my form and my splendour descended upon you!"

Then the messenger opened his mouth and said to Yosamin: "Do not say that I have come to you of my own accord. The King has sent to you in anger, and I cannot say to him anything about Yosamin ... the gentleness of men ... good, the great, when they do not act according to the will of the wicked. Yosamin took on pride; now his fortress and his building will be destroyed. His sons go about in rebellion. His splendour and brightness will be darkened, and his works scattered. The wrath that the King has let loose will not dissolve in generations. You, Yosamin, sit at the gate of Sufath; taken from you will be the honour and the crown that the Great One gave you. Taken from you will be the splendour, and darkness will be set up in your building. The fortresses of your sons are destroyed, and your thrones stand empty, for as long as the Great One desires this for you. Your wife, who should continue your line, will not be your wife for generations to come. They bring low the line of all the stallions."

And the Living God is victorious.

8.

In the name of the great Living God, glorified be the exalted Light.

A voice reached me in the Jordan, and light in great abundance in the world. Nsab-Ziwa came from the earth of the ether; his way leads to the place of glorious splendour. He comes to the place of glorious splendour, to the messenger who guards the gate, and says to him: "Go, messenger, and tell the great King that Nsab-Ziwa stands at the gate. This speech that comes from my mouth, give back to him in full faithfulness, and ... pardon was proclaimed beyond."

The messenger went and came before the King of Light, but the King of Light gave no sign. Once the messenger bowed before the King of Light, but the King of Light gave no sign. A second time the messenger bowed before the King of Light, but the King of Light gave no sign. Then the messenger addressed the great King and said to him: "Nsab-Ziwa, the son of Yosamin, stands at the gate and asks remission from Your insight." Then the King of Light answered and said to the messenger: "Open the gate in splendour, open it to him, and may his feet stand there in full steadfastness." Then the messenger opened the gate in splendour, and Nsab-Ziwa stood upright there. Nsab-Ziwa then addressed the King and said: "Gentle and mild are You, and Your speech is far-reaching and not idle. Your splendour abides in silence, and Your light and Your brilliance are far-reaching and not worthless. You have no companion at Your crown and no partner in Your dominion. You are a knower of honour, who reveals teachings that are endless. Your baptism is established in the Jordan, and all Your works belong to You. If I tell You, be not angry, and let the gentleness of the good settle in Your mind. Wondrous is Your ... which You devise, and without idleness. There is the man who was removed from his stronghold and driven from his dwelling with weapons. His sons were slain in resistance, and his wives go about in mourning. His rivers are disturbed, and his dwellings removed from their place. They destroyed his dwelling and his building, and his throne is set up at the gate of Sufath. His worlds are disturbed, he is held captive in captivity, and sighing has been laid upon his mind. If You so wish in Your mind, I will calm him and establish his mind in its place. I will set up knowledge for him through Your baptism and pronounce Your name over him. Let Yosamin learn that he is not forsaken by Your name. [Let him know that] the King of Light, who was angry, has become calm, and forgiveness has come into His mind."

When the King of Light heard this, He rejoiced over Nsab-Ziwa beyond measure. Then Manda d-Haiye rose from his throne and said to the King of Light: "A man who has been driven from his land and his dwelling—shall forgiveness be given him?" When the King of Light heard this, He said to Manda d-Haiye: "From your first day you have not been kind to Yosamin. From your first day you have borne ill will toward him, and so you hold the deep grudge in your mind, and it will not be dispelled in all eternity. You destroy and lay waste his dwelling, and still you hold fast to ill will. From the earliest times, to whom was done what has been done to Yosamin, to the man who was driven from his land and from the treasure that the Great God had given him? Of his former sons he has not found one again, and his wives go about in mourning." Then the King of Light said to Nsab-Ziwa: "I will reveal secrets to you, that you may keep with splendour the honour that has been given you, and the wisdom allotted to your mind. Dear are you, dear is your Jordan, and dear is the place from which you came forth. Abundant is to you

gentleness and the place of origin from which you came forth. Bring your father gentle words, and let his heart rest upon its support. Say to him: 'The great Living God is full of kindness toward you.'"