Lost Books of the Bible (178 page)

The address of the chief priest.

(…) of our camps, and to keep ourselves from any shameful nakedness, and he (Moses) told us that You are in our midst, (and You are) a great and awesome God, plundering all of our enemies before us. He taught us from  (the times) of old through out generations, saying, when you approach the battle, the priest shall stand and speak unto the people, saying, 'Hear O Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be afraid nor fainthearted. Do not tremble, nor be terrified because of them, for your God goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, and to save you"' (See Deut. 20:2-4)

Our officers shall speak to all those prepared for battle, those of willing heart, to strengthen them by the might of God, to turn back all who have lost heart, and to strengthen all the valiant warriors together. They shall recount that which You have spoken by the hand of Moses, saying: "And when there is a war in your land against the adversary who attacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets that you might be remembered before your God  and be saved from your enemies (See Num. 10:9)

The prayer of the chief priest.

Who is like You, O God of Israel, in heaven and on earth, that he can perform like you do with Your great works  and Your great strength? Who is like Your people Israel, whom You have chosen for Yourself from all the peoples of the lands? They are people sanctified by the covenant, learned in the statutes, enlightened in understanding. Those who hear the glorious voice and see the holy angels, whose ears are open to hearing deep things. O God, You have created the expanse of the skies, the host of the stars (luminaries), the work of spirits and the dominion of holy ones, the treasures of Your glory in the clouds. (See 1 Enoch)

He who created the earth and the limits of her divisions into wilderness and plains, and (autumn, winter, and spring with its fruits; the circle of the seas, the sources of the rivers, and the rift of the deeps, 'wild beasts and winged creatures, the form of man and the generations of his seed, the confusion of language and the separation of peoples, the abode of families which have the inheritance of the lands, and holy festivals, courses of years and times of eternity.

(Only) these we know from Your understanding which (You have taught us.) And Your ears (listen) to our cry, for (the protection of) this house.  Truly the battle is Yours, and by the strength of Your hand their corpses have been broken to pieces, without anyone to bury them. Indeed, Goliath the Gittitej a mighty man of valor, You delivered into the hand of David, Your servant, because he trusted in Your great name and not in sword and spear. For the battle is Yours. He subdued the Philistines many times by Your holy name. Also by the hand of our kings You rescued us many times because of Your mercy; not according to our works, for we have acted wickedly, nor for the acts of our rebelliousness. The battle is Yours, the strength is from You, it is not our own. Neither our power nor the strength of our hand have done valiantly, but rather by Your power and the strength of Your great valor.

Just as You told us in time past, saying: "There shall come forth a star out of Jacob, a scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall crush the forehead of Moab and tear down all sons of Sheth (the noisy boasters), and he shall descend on Jacob and shall destroy the remnant from the city, and the enemy shall be a possession, and Israel shall do valiantly (Num. 24:17-19). By the hand of Your anointed ones, seers of things appointed, You have told us about the times of the wars of Your hands in order that You may glorify Yourself (and fight) among our enemies to bring down the hordes of Belial, the seven nations of empty, boasting, prideful nations, at the hand of the oppressed whom You have redeemed with power and retribution; and wondrous strength.

A heart that melts shall be as a door of hope. You will do to them as You did to Pharaoh and the officers of his chariots in the Red Sea. You will ignite the humble of spirit like a fiery torch of fire in a sheaf, consuming the wicked.

You shall not turn back until the annihilation of the guilty. In time past You foretold the appointed time for Your hand is powerful work against the Kittim, saying: And Assyria shall fall by a sword not of man, and a sword, 'not of men, shall consume him (Isa. 31: 8).

For into the hand of the oppressed You will deliver the enemies of all the lands; into the hands of those who are prostrate in the dust, in order to bring down all mighty men of (faithless) peoples, to return the recompense of the wicked on the head of (the guilty) to pronounce the fair judgment of Your truth on all sons of man, and to make for Yourself an everlasting name among the people.

(Give us victory in) wars, and to show Yourself great and holy before the remnant of the nations, so that they may know that You are God  when You carry out judgments on (Gog and on all his company that are assembled all around us.  For You will do battle against them from the heavens (and heap) upon them for confusion. For You have a multitude of holy ones in the heavens and hosts of angels in Your exalted dwelling to praise Your name.

The chosen ones of the holy people You have established for Yourself in a community. The number and The book of the names of all their host is with You in Your holy dwelling, and the number of the holy ones is in the abode of Your glory. Mercies of blessing (is with them) and Your covenant of peace You engraved for them with a stylus of life in order to reign over them for all time, commissioning the hosts of Your elect by their thousands and tens of thousands together with Your holy ones and Your angels, and directing them in battle so as to condemn the earthly adversaries by trial with Your judgments. With the elect of heaven they shall prevail.

And You, O God, are awesome in the glory of Your dominion, and the company of Your holy ones is in our midst for eternal support. We shall direct our contempt at kings, derision and disdain at mighty men. For the Lord is holy, and the King of Glory is with us together with the holy ones. Mighty men and a host of angels are with our commissioned forces.  The Hero of War is with our company, and the host of His spirits is with our steps. Our horse riders are as the clouds and as the mist covering the earth, 'and as a steady downpour shedding judgment on all her offspring.

Rise up
, O Hero, take Your captives, O Glorious One, take Your plunder, O You who do valiantly. Lay Your hand upon the neck of Your enemies, and Your foot upon the backs of the slain. Crush the nations, Your adversaries, and may Your sword devour guilty flesh. Fill Your land with glory, and Your heritance with blessing.

An abundance of cattle in Your fields; silver and gold and precious stones in Your palaces. O Zion, rejoice greatly, and shine with joyful songs, O Jerusalem. Rejoice, all you cities of Judah, open your gates forever that the wealth of the nations might be brought to you, and their kings shall serve you.

David was king and his praise was to ring out (shine):

All they that oppressed you shall bow down to you, and the dust of your feet they shall lick. O daughters of my people shout out with a voice of joy, adorn yourselves with ornaments of glory Rule over the kingdom, and Israel to reign eternally. (. . . ) them the mighty men of war, O Jerusalem be exalted above the heavens, O Lord, and let Your glory be above all the earth.

The blessings of the war recited by all the leaders after the victory.

And then the Chief Priest shall stand and his brothers the priests, the Levites, and all the elders of the Army with him. They shall bless from their position, the God of Israel and all His works of truth, and they shall curse  Belial there and all the spirits of his forces.

And they shall say response: "Blessed is the God of Israel for all His holy purpose and His works of truth. And blessed are those who serve Him righteously. who know Him by faith. And cursed is Belial for his contentious purpose, and accursed for his reprehensible rule. And cursed are all the spirits of his lot for their wicked purpose. Accursed are they for all their filthy dirty service. For they are the lot of darkness, but the lot of God is light eterna1. You are the God of our fathers. We bless Your name forever, for we are an eternal people. You made a covenant with our fathers, and will establish it for their seed throughout the ages of eternity. In all the testimonies of Your glory there has been remembrance of Your kindness in our midst as an assistance to the remnant and the survivors for the sake of Your covenant and to recount Your works of truth and the judgments of Your wondrous strength.

And You, O God, created us for Yourself as an eternal people, and into the lot of light You cast us in accordance with Your truth. You appointed the Prince of Light from of old to assist us, for in His lot are all sons of righteousness and all spirits of truth are in his dominion.

You yourself made Belial for the pit, an angel of malevolence, his dominion is in darkness and his counsel is to condemn and convict. All the spirits of his lot are the angels of destruction who walk in accord with the rule of darkness, for it is their only desire. But we, in the lot of Your truth, rejoice in Your mighty hand. We rejoice in Your salvation, and revel in Your help and Your peace. Who is like You in strength, O God of Israel, and yet Your mighty hand is with the oppressed. What angel or prince is like You for Your effectual support, for of old You appointed for Yourself a day of great battle to support truth and to destroy iniquity, to bring darkness low and to lend might to light, and for an eterna1 stand, and to annihilate all the Sons of Darkness and bring joy to all the Sons of Light for You Yourself designated us for an appointed time like the fire of His fury against the idols of Egypt.

The blessings of the war recited by all the leaders in the morning before the battle.
After they have withdrawn from the slain to enter the camp, all of them shall sing the hymn of return. In the morning they shall wash their clothes, cleanse themselves of the blood of the sinful bodies, and return to the place where they had stood, where they had formed the battle line before the slain of the enemy fell.

There they shall all bless the God of Israel and together they shall joyously exalt His name. They shall say in response: "Blessed is the God of Israel, who guards loving-kindness for His covenant and the appointed times of salvation for the people He redeems.

He has called those who stumble unto wondrous accomplishments, and He has gathered a congregation of nations for annihilation without remnant in order to raise up in judgment he whose heart has melted, to open a mouth for the dumb to sing God's mighty deeds, and to teach feeble hands warfare. He gives those whose knees shake strength to stand, and strengthens those who have been beaten from the hips to the shoulder.

Among the poor in spirit (there is not) a hard heart, and by those whose way is perfect shall all wicked nations come to an end. There will be no place for all their mighty men. But we are the remnant of Your people. Blessed is Your name, O God of loving-kindness, the One who kept the covenant for our forefathers. Throughout all our generations You have made Your mercies wondrous for the remnant of the people during the dominion of Belial. With all the mysteries of his hatred they have not led us astray from Your covenant. His spirits of destruction You have driven away from us. And when the men of his dominion condemned themselves, You have preserved the lives of Your redeemed. You raised up the small fallen by Your strength, but those who are great in height You will cut down to humble them. And there is no rescuer for all their mighty men, and no place of refuge for their swift ones. To their honored men You will return shame, and all their vain existence shall be as nothing.

But we, Your holy people, shall praise Your name for Your works of truth. Because of Your mighty deeds we shall exalt your splendor in epochs and appointed times of eternity, at the beginning of day, at night and at dawn and dusk. For Your glorious purpose is great and Your wondrous mysteries are in Your high heavens, to raise up those for Yourself from the dust and to humble those of the gods.