The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English

by Geza Vermes

  may be caught in their own designs.

  Thou wilt destroy in Judgement

  all men of lies,

  and there shall be no more seers of error;

  for in Thy works is no folly,

  no guile in the design of Thy heart.

  But those who please Thee

  shall stand before Thee for ever;

  those who walk in the way of Thy heart

  shall be established for evermore.

  Clinging to Thee, I will stand.

  I will rise against those who despise me

  and my hand shall be turned

  against those who deride me;

  for they have no esteem for me

  [that Thou mayest] manifest Thy might through me.

  Thou hast revealed Thyself to me in Thy power

  as perfect Light,

  and Thou hast not covered my face with shame.

  All those who are gathered in Thy Covenant

  inquire of me,

  and they hearken to me who walk in the way of Thy heart,

  who array themselves for Thee

  in the Council of the holy.

  Thou wilt cause their law to endure for ever

  and truth to go forward unhindered,

  and Thou wilt not allow them to be led astray

  by the hand of the damned

  when they plot against them.

  Thou wilt put the fear of them into Thy people

  and (wilt make of them) a hammer

  to all the peoples of the lands,

  that at the Judgement they may cut off

  all those who transgress Thy word.

  Through me Thou hast illumined

  the face of the Congregation

  and hast shown Thine infinite power.

  For Thou hast given me knowledge

  through Thy marvellous mysteries,

  and hast shown Thyself mighty within me

  in the midst of Thy marvellous Council.

  Thou hast done wonders before the Congregation

  for the sake of Thy glory,

  that they may make known Thy mighty deeds to all the living.

  But what is flesh (to be worthy) of this?

  What is a creature of clay

  for such great marvels to be done,

  whereas he is in iniquity from the womb

  and in guilty unfaithfulness until his old age?

  Righteousness, I know, is not of man,

  nor is perfection of way of the son of man:

  to the Most High God belong all righteous deeds.

  The way of man is not established

  except by the spirit which God created for him

  to make perfect a way for the children of men,

  that all His creatures may know

  the might of His power,

  and the abundance of His mercies

  towards all the sons of His grace.

  As for me, shaking and trembling seize me

  and all my bones are broken;

  my heart dissolves like wax before fire

  and my knees are like water

  pouring down a steep place.

  For I remember my sins

  and the unfaithfulness of my fathers.

  When the wicked rose against Thy Covenant

  and the damned against Thy word,

  I said in my sinfulness,

  ‘I am forsaken by Thy Covenant.’

  But calling to mind the might of Thy hand

  and the greatness of Thy compassion,

  I rose and stood,

  and my spirit was established

  in face of the scourge.

  I lean on Thy grace

  and on the multitude of Thy mercies,

  for Thou wilt pardon iniquity,

  and through Thy righteousness

  [Thou wilt purify man] of his sin.

  Not for his sake wilt Thou do it,

  [but for the sake of Thy glory].

  For Thou hast created the just and the wicked

  XIII (formerly V)

  Hymn 13 (formerly 8)

  I thank Thee, O Lord,

  for Thou hast not abandoned me

  whilst I sojourned among a people [burdened with sin].

  [Thou hast not] judged me

  according to my guilt,

  nor hast Thou abandoned me

  because of the designs of my inclination;

  but Thou hast saved my life from the Pit.

  Thou hast brought [Thy servant deliverance]

  in the midst of lions destined for the guilty,

  and of lionesses which crush the bones of the mighty

  and drink the blood of the brave.

  Thou hast caused me to dwell with the many fishers

  who spread a net upon the face of the waters,

  and with the hunters of the children of iniquity;

  Thou hast established me there for justice.

  Thou hast confirmed the counsel of truth in my heart

  and the waters of the Covenant for those who seek it.

  Thou hast closed up the mouth of the young lions

  whose teeth are like a sword,

  and whose great teeth are like a pointed spear,

  like the venom of dragons.

  All their design is for robbery

  and they have lain in wait;

  but they have not opened their mouth against me.

  For Thou, O God, hast sheltered me

  from the children of men,

  and hast hidden Thy Law [within me]

  against the time when Thou shouldst reveal

  Thy salvation to me.

  For Thou hast not forsaken me

  in my soul’s distress,

  and Thou hast heard my cry

  in the bitterness of my soul;

  and when I groaned,

  Thou didst consider my sorrowful complaint.

  Thou hast preserved the soul of the poor one

  in the den of lions

  which sharpened their tongue like a sword.

  Thou hast closed up their teeth, O God,

  lest they rend the soul of the poor and needy.

  Thou hast made their tongue go back

  like a sword to its scabbard

  [lest] the soul of Thy servant [be blotted out].

  Thou hast dealt wondrously with the poor one

  to manifest Thy might within me

  in the presence of the sons of men.

  Thou hast placed him in the melting-pot,

  [like gold] in the fire,

  and like silver refined

  in the melting-pot of the smelters,

  to be purified seven times.

  The wicked and fierce have stormed against me

  with their afflictions;

  they have pounded my soul all day.

  But Thou, O my God,

  hast changed the tempest to a breeze;

  Thou hast delivered the soul of the poor one

  like [a bird from the net

  and like] prey from the mouth of lions.

  Hymn 14 (formerly 9)

  I thank Thee (corrected: Blessed art Thou) O Lord,

  for Thou hast not abandoned the fatherless

  or despised the poor.

  For Thy might [is boundless]

  and Thy glory beyond measure

  and wonderful Heroes minister to Thee;

  yet [hast Thou done marvels] among the humble

  in the mire underfoot,

  and among those eager for righteousness,

  causing all the well-loved poor

  to rise up together from the trampling.

  But I have been [iniquity to] those who contend with me,

  dispute and quarrelling to my friends,

  wrath to the members of my Covenant

  and murmuring and protest to all my companions.

  [All who have ea]ten my bread

  have lifted their heel against me,

  and all those joined to my Council

  have moc
ked me with wicked lips.

  The members of my [Covenant] have rebelled

  and have murmured round about me;

  they have gone as talebearers

  before the children of mischief

  concerning the mystery which Thou hast hidden in me.

  And to show Thy great[ness] through me,

  and because of their guilt,

  Thou hast hidden the fountain of understanding

  and the counsel of truth.

  They consider but the mischief of their heart;

  [with] devilish [schemings] they unsheathe

  a perfidious tongue

  from which ever springs the poison of dragons.

  And like (serpents) which creep in the dust,

  so do they let fly [their poisonous darts],

  viper’s [venom] against which there is no charm;

  and this has brought incurable pain,

  a malignant scourge

  within the body of Thy servant,

  causing [his spirit] to faint

  and draining his strength

  so that he maintains no firm stand.

  They have overtaken me in a narrow pass without escape

  and there is no [rest for me in my trial].

  They sound my censure upon a harp

  and their murmuring and storming upon a zither.

  Anguish [seizes me]

  like the pangs of a woman in travail,

  and my heart is troubled within me.

  I am clothed in blackness

  and my tongue cleaves to the roof [of my mouth];

  [for I fear the mischief of] their heart

  and their inclination (towards evil)

  appears as bitterness before me.

  The light of my face is dimmed to darkness

  and my radiance is turned to decay.

  For Thou, O God, didst widen my heart,

  but they straiten it with affliction

  and hedge me about with darkness.

  I eat the bread of wailing

  and drink unceasing tears;

  truly, my eyes are dimmed by grief,

  and my soul by daily bitterness.

  [Groaning] and sorrow encompass me

  and ignominy covers my face.

  My bread is turned into an adversary

  and my drink into an accuser;

  it has entered into my bones

  causing my spirit to stagger

  and my strength to fail.

  According to the mysteries of sin,

  they change the works of God by their transgression.

  Truly, I am bound with untearable ropes

  and with unbreakable chains.

  A thick wall [fences me in],

  iron bars and gates [of bronze];

  my [prison] is counted with the Abyss

  as being without [any escape]

  [The torrents of Belial] have encompassed my soul

  [leaving me without deliverance]

  Hymn 14 (formerly 10)

  XIV (formerly VI)

  Thou hast unstopped my ears

  [to the correction] of those who reprove with justice

  [Thou hast saved me] from the congregation of [vanity]

  and from the assembly of violence;

  Thou hast brought me into the Council of...

  [and hast purified me of] sin.

  And I know there is hope

  for those who turn from transgression

  and for those who abandon sin

  and to walk without wickedness

  in the way of Thy heart.

  I am consoled for the roaring of the peoples,

  and for the tumult of k[ing]doms when they assemble;

  [for] in a little while, I know,

  Thou wilt raise up survivors among Thy people

  and a remnant within Thine inheritance.

  Thou wilt purify and cleanse them of their sin

  for all their deeds are in Thy truth.

  Thou wilt judge them in Thy great loving-kindness

  and in the multitude of Thy mercies

  and in the abundance of Thy pardon,

  teaching them according to Thy word;

  and Thou wilt establish them in Thy Council

  according to the uprightness of Thy truth.

  Thou wilt do these things for Thy glory

  and for Thine own sake,

  to [magnify] the Law and [the truth

  and to enlighten] the members of Thy Council

  in the midst of the sons of men,

  that they may recount Thy marvels

  for everlasting generations

  and [meditate] unceasingly upon Thy mighty deeds.

  All the nations shall acknowledge Thy truth,

  and all the people Thy glory.

  For Thou wilt bring Thy glorious [salvation]

  to all the men of Thy Council,

  to those who share a common lot

  with the Angels of the Face.

  And among them shall be no mediator to [invoke Thee],

  and no messenger [to make] reply;

  for ...

  They shall reply according to Thy glorious word

  and shall be Thy princes in the company [of the Angels].

  They shall send out a bud [for ever]

  like a flower [of the fields],

  and shall cause a shoot to grow

  into the boughs of an everlasting Plant.

  It shall cover the whole [earth] with its shadow

  [and its crown] (shall reach) to the [clouds];

  its roots (shall go down) to the Abyss

  [and all the rivers of Eden shall water its branches].

  A source of light

  shall become an eternal ever-flowing fountain,

  and in its bright flames

  all the [sons of iniquity] shall be consumed;

  [it shall be] a fire to devour all sinful men

  in utter destruction.

  They who bore the yoke of my testimony

  have been led astray [by teachers of lies],

  [and have rebelled] against the service of righteousness.

  Whereas Thou, O my God, didst command them

  to mend their ways

  [by walking] in the way of [holiness],

  where no man goes who is uncircumcised

  or unclean or violent,

  they have staggered aside from the way of Thy heart

  and languish in [great] wretchedness.

  A counsel of Belial is in their heart

  [and in accordance with] their wicked design

  they wallow in sin.

  [I am] as a sailor in a ship

  amid furious seas;

  their waves and all their billows

  roar against me.

  [There is no] calm in the whirlwind

  that I may restore my soul,

  no path that I may straighten my way

  on the face of the waters.

  The deeps resound to my groaning

  and [my soul has journeyed] to the gates of death.

  But I shall be as one who enters a fortified city,

  as one who seeks refuge behind a high wall

  until deliverance (comes);

  I will [lean on] Thy truth, O my God.

  For Thou wilt set the foundation on rock

  and the framework by the measuring-cord of justice;

  and the tried stones [Thou wilt lay]

  by the plumb-line [of truth],

  to [build] a mighty [wall] which shall not sway;

  and no man entering there shall stagger.

  For no enemy shall ever invade [it

  since its doors shall be] doors of protection

  through which no man shall pass;

  and its bars shall be firm

  and no man shall break them.

  No rabble shall enter in with their weapons of war

  until all the [arrows] of the war of wickedness

  have come to an end.

  And then at the tim
e of Judgement

  the Sword of God shall hasten,

  and all the sons of His truth shall awake

  to [overthrow] wickedness;

  all the sons of iniquity shall be no more.

  The Hero shall bend his bow;

  the fortress shall open on to endless space

  and the everlasting gates shall send out weapons of war.

  They shall be mighty

  from end to end [of the earth

  and there shall be no escape]

  for the guilty of heart [in their battle];

  they shall be utterly trampled down

  without any [remnant.

  There shall be no] hope

  in the greatness [of their might],

  no refuge for the mighty warriors;

  for [the battle shall be] to the Most High God

  Hoist a banner,

  O you who lie in the dust!

  O bodies gnawed by worms,

  raise up an ensign for [the destruction of wickedness]!

  [The sinful shall] be destroyed

  in the battles against the ungodly.

  The scourging flood when it advances

  shall not invade the stronghold

  XV (formerly VII)

  As for me, I am dumb ...

  [my arm] is torn from its shoulder

  and my foot has sunk into the mire.

  My eyes are closed by the spectacle of evil,

  and my ears by the crying of blood.

  My heart is dismayed by the mischievous design,

  for Belial is manifest in their (evil) inclination.

  All the foundations of my edifice totter

  and my bones are pulled out of joint;

  my bowels heave like a ship in a violent tempest

  and my heart is utterly distressed.

  A whirlwind engulfs me

  because of the mischief of their sin.

  Hymn 15 (formerly 11)