2nd Book of Àzrah — 6
Continuation from Chapter Five
1 And 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH Dabar to me, “At the beginning of the circle of the Arath, before the portals of the world were in place, and before the assembled winds blew,
2 and before the rumblings of thunder sounded, and before the flashes of lightning shone, and before the foundations of paradise were laid,
3 and before the beautiful flowers were seen, and before the powers of movement were established, and before the innumerable hosts of Malakym were gathered together,
4 and before the heights of the air were lifted up, and before the measures of the firmaments were named, and before the footstool of Ziun was established,
5 and before the present years were reckoned; and before the imaginations of those who now sin were estranged, and before those who stored up treasures of faith were sealed
6 then I planned these things, and they were made through me and not through another, just as the end shall come through me and not through another Says 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH.”
The Dividing of the Times
7 And I answered and said, “What will be the dividing of the times? Or when will be the end of the first age and the beginning of the age that follows?”
8 Then 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH Dabar to me, “From Abraham to Yachaq, because from Yachaq were born Ya'aqub and Ásau, for Ya'aqub’s hand held Àsau’s heel from the beginning.
9 For Ásau is the end of this age, and Ya'aqub is the beginning of the age that follows.
10 For the beginning of a man is his hand, and the end of a man is his heel; between the heel and the hand seek for nothing else Àzrah!”
More Signs of the End
11 I answered and said, “O 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, if I have found favor in your sight,
12 show your servant the end of your signs which you did show me in part on a previous night.”
13 And 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH answered and Dabar to me, “Rise to your feet and you will hear a full, resounding voice.
14 And if the place where you are standing is greatly shaken
15 while the voice is speaking, do not be terrified; because the word concerns the end, and the foundations of the Arath will understand
16 that the speech concerns them. They will tremble and be shaken, for they know that their end must be changed.”
17 When I heard this, I rose to my feet and listened, and behold, a voice was speaking, and its sound was like the sound of many waters.
18 And it said, “Behold, the days are coming, and it shall be that when I draw near to visit the inhabitants of the Arath,
19 and when I require from the doers of iniquity the penalty of their iniquity, and when the humiliation of Ziun is complete,
20 and when the seal is placed upon the age which is about to pass away, then I will show these signs: the books shall be opened before the firmament, and all shall see it together.
21 Infants a year old shall speak with their voices, and women with child shall give birth to premature children at three or four months, and they shall live and dance.
22 Sown places shall suddenly appear unsown, and full storehouses shall suddenly be found to be empty;
23 and the trumpet shall sound aloud, and when all hear it, they shall suddenly be terrified.
24 At that time friends shall make war on friends like enemies, and the Arath and those who inhabit it shall be terrified, and the springs of the fountains shall stand still, so that for three hours they shall not flow.
25 “And it shall be that whoever remains after all that I have foretold to you shall himself be saved and shall see my salvation and the end of my world.
26 And they shall see the men who were taken up, who from their birth have not tasted death; and the heart of the Arath’s inhabitants shall be changed and converted to a different ruach.
27 For evil shall be blotted out, and deceit shall be quenched;
28 faithfulness shall flourish, and corruption shall be overcome, and the truth, which has been so long without fruit, shall be revealed.”
Conclusion of the Second Vision
29 While he spoke to me, behold, little by little the place where I was standing began to rock to and fro.
30 And the Malak Uri'AL said to me, “I have come to show you these things this night.
31 If therefore you will pray again and fast again for seven days, I will again declare to you greater things than these,
32 because your voice has surely been heard before 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH; For 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH has seen your uprightness and has also observed the purity which you have maintained from your youth.
33 Therefore 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH sent me to show you all these things, and to say to you: ‘Believe and do not be afraid!
34 Do not be quick to think vain thoughts concerning the former times, else you will be hasty concerning the last times.’”
The Third Vision
35 Now after this I wept again and fasted seven days as before, in order to complete the three weeks as I had been told.
36 And on the eighth night my heart was troubled within me again, and I began to speak in the presence of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH.
37 For my ruach was greatly aroused, and my soul was in distress.
YAHUAH’s Work in Creation
38 I said, “O 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, you did speak at the beginning of creation, and You Dabar on the first day, ‘Let Shamaym and Arath be made,’ and your Dabar accomplished the work.
39 And then the RUACH Ha'Qadash was hovering, and darkness and silence embraced everything; the sound of man’s voice was not yet there.
40 Then You did command that a ray of light be brought forth from your treasuries, so that your works might then appear.
41 “Again, on the second day, you did create the ruach of the firmament, and did command him to divide and separate the waters, that one part might move upward and the other part remain beneath.
42 “On the third day you did command the waters to be gathered together in the seventh part of the Arath; six parts you did dry up and keep so that some of them might be planted and cultivated and be of service before you.
43 For your Dabar went forth, and at once the work was done.
44 For immediately fruit came forth in endless abundance and of varied appeal to the taste; and flowers of inimitable color; and odors of inexpressible fragrance. These were made on the third day.
45 “On the fourth day you did command the brightness of the sun, the light of the moon, and the arrangement of the stars to come into being;
46 and you did command them to serve man, who was about to be formed.
47 “On the fifth day You did command the seventh part, where the water had been gathered together, to bring forth living creatures, birds, and fishes; and so it was done.
48 The dumb and lifeless water produced living creatures, as it was commanded, that therefore the nations might declare thy wondrous works.
49 “Then you did keep in existence two living creatures; the name of one you did call Bahamuth and the name of the other Laviathan.
50 And thou did separate one from the other, for the seventh part where the water had been gathered together could not hold them both.
51 And you did give Bahamuth one of the parts which had been dried up on the third day, to live in it, where there are a thousand mountains;
52 but to Laviathan you did give the seventh part, the watery part; and you have kept them to be eaten by whom you will, and when you will.
53 “On the sixth day thou did command the Arath to bring forth before you cattle, beasts, and creeping things;
54 and over these You did place Adam, as ruler over all the works which You have made; and from him we have all come, the people whom you have chosen.
Why Do YAHUAH’s People Suffer?
55 “All this I have spoken before you, O 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, because you have said that it was for us that you did create this world.
56 As for the other nations which have descended from Adam, thou hast said that they are nothing, and that they are like spittle, and you have compared their abundance to a drop from a bucket.
57 And now, O 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, behold, these nations, which are reputed as nothing, domineer over us and devour us.
58 But we your people, whom you have called your first-born, only begotten, zealous for you, and most dear, have been given into their hands.
59 If the world has indeed been created for us, why do we not possess our world as an inheritance? How long will this be so?”