The Essene Gospel of Peace 3 страница

268.

[The son answered his father,]

'Father, it is indeed hard to pay them, even for seven days.'

269.

And his father admonished him, saying:

“'For this once alone, has it been permitted you

to pay your debts in seven days instead of seven years,

270.

The rest is forgiven you.

Yet take heed that in the time to come you do not incur more debts.

271.

For I tell you truly,

that none else but your father forgives you your debts,

because you are his son.

272.

For with all else, you would have had to labor hard for seven years,

as it is commanded in our laws.”

273.

“My father, I will henceforth be your loving and obedient son,

and I will not any more incur debts,

for I know that their payment is hard.'

274.

And he went to his father's field

and watched every day over the work of his father's laborers.

And he never made his laborers work hard,

for he remembered his own heavy labor.

275.

And the years passed,

and his father's possession increased ever more and more beneath his hand,

for the blessing of his father was upon his labor.

And slowly he gave back tenfold to his father

all that he had squandered in the seven years.

276.

And when his father saw that his son used well his servants and all his possessions,

he said to him:

'My son, I see that my possessions are in good hands.

277.

I give you all my cattle, my house, my lands and my treasures.

Let all this be your heritage,

continue increasing it that I may have delight in you.'

278.

And when the son had received his inheritance from his father,

he forgave their debts to all his debtors who could not pay him,

for he did not forget that his debt also had been forgiven when he could not pay it.

279.

And God blessed him with long life,

with many children and with much riches,

because he was kind to all his servants and to all his cattle."

280.

Then Jesus turned to the sick folk and said:

"I speak to you in parables that you may better understand God's word.

281.

The seven years of eating and drinking and of riotous living are the sins of the past.

The wicked creditor is Satan.

The debts are diseases.

282.

The heavy labor is pains.

The prodigal son, he is yourselves.

283.

The payment of the debts is the casting from you of devils and diseases,

and the healing of your body.

The father is God.

284.

The father's possessions are earth and heaven.

The bag of silver received from the father

is the liberating power of the angels.

285.

The servants of the father are the angels.

The father's field is the world, which is changed into the kingdom of the heavens,

if the Sons of Man work thereon together with the angels of the Heavenly Father.

286.

For I tell you,

it is better that the son should obey his father

and keep watch over his father's servants in the field,

than [that] he should become the debtor of the wicked creditor

and toil and sweat in serfdom to repay all his debts.

287.

Likewise, it is better if the Sons of Man also obey the laws of their Heavenly Father,

and work together with his angels upon his kingdom,

288.

than that they should become the debtors of Satan,

the lord of death, of all sins and all diseases,

and that they should suffer with pains and sweat till they have repaid all their sins.

289.

I tell you truly, great and many are your sins.

Many years have you yielded to the enticings of Satan.

290.

You have been gluttonous, wine-bibbers and gone a-whoring,

and your past debts have multiplied.

And now you must repay them, and payment is difficult and hard.

The Essene Gospel of Peace CHAPTER ELEVEN

Divisions 291-325

ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE 1

291.

Therefore, be not like the Prodigal Son,

who was impatient already after the third day,

Yet wait patiently for the Seventh day which is sanctified by God,

292.

and then go with humble and obedient heart before the face of your Heavenly Father,

that he may forgive you your sins and all your past debts.

293.

I tell you truly, your Heavenly Father loves you without end,

for he also allows you to pay in seven days the debts of seven years.

294.

Those that owe the sins and diseases of seven years,

yet pay honestly and persevere till the seventh day,

to them shall our Heavenly Father forgive the debts of all these seven years.

295.

“We sin for seven times seven years?"

asked a sick man, who suffered horribly.

296.

"Even in that case,

the Heavenly Father forgives you all your debts in seven times seven days.

297.

"Happy are those that persevere to the end,

for the devils of Satan write all your evil deeds in a book,

in the book of your body and your spirit.

298.

I tell you truly, there is not one sinful deed, that is unwritten,

even from the beginning of the world,

before our Heavenly Father.

299.

For you may escape the laws made by kings,

yet the laws of your God,

these may none of the Sons of Man escape.

300.

And when you come before the face of God,

the devils of Satan bear witness against you with your deed,

and God sees your sins written in the book of your body and of your spirit

and is sad in his heart.

301.

Yet if you repent of your sins,

and by fasting and prayer you seek the angels of God,

then each day that you continue to fast and to pray,

God's angels blot out one year of your evil deeds from the book of your body and your spirit.

302.

And when the last page is also blotted out and cleansed from all your sins,

you stand before the face of God,

and God rejoices in his heart and forgets all your sins.

303.

He frees you from the clutches of Satan and from suffering;

he takes you within his house and commands that all his servants,

all his angels, serve you.

304.

Long life does he give you,

and you shall never see disease.

305.

And if, thenceforward, instead of sinning,

you pass your days in doing good deeds,

then the angels of God shall write all your good deeds

in the book of your body and of your spirit.

306.

I tell you truly,

no good deed remains unwritten before God,

not from the beginning of the world.

307.

For, from your kings and your governors you may wait in vain for your reward,

yet never do your good deeds go unpaid their reward from God.

308.

"And when you come before the face of God,

His angels bear witness for you with your good deeds.

And God sees your good deeds written in your bodies and in your spirits,

and rejoices in His heart.

309.

He blesses your body and your spirit and all your deeds,

and gives you for a heritage his Earthly and Heavenly kingdom,

that in it you may have life everlasting.

310.

Happy is he who can enter into the kingdom of God,

for he shall never see death."

311.

And a great silence fell at his words.

And those that were discouraged took new strength from his words

and continued to fast and to pray.

312.

And he who had spoken the first, said to him:

"I will persevere to the seventh day."

313.

And the second, likewise, said to him:

"I also will persevere to the seven times seventh day."

314.

Jesus answered them:

"Happy are those that persevere to the end, for they shall inherit the earth."

315.

And there were many sick among them tormented with grievous pains,

and they hardly crawled to Jesus' feet,

for they could no longer walk upon their feet.

316.

They said: "Master, we are grievously tormented with pain.

Tell us what we shall do."

317.

And they showed Jesus their feet in which the bones were twisted and knotted and said:

"Neither the angel of Air, nor ofWater,

nor of Sunshine has assuaged our pains,

318.

notwithstanding that we baptized ourselves,

and do fast and pray,

and follow your words in all things."

319.

"I tell you truly, your bones will be healed.

Be not discouraged,

yet seek for cure nigh the healer of bones, the angel of Earth.

320.

For thence were your bones taken, and thither will they return."

And he pointed with his hand to where the running of the water and the sun's heat

had softened to clay mud the earth by the edge of the water.

321.

"Sink your feet in the mire,

that the embrace of the angel of the Earth

may draw out from your bones all uncleanness and all disease.

And you will see Satan and your pains

fly from the embrace of the angel of earth.

322.

And the knots of your bones will vanish away,

And they will be straightened,

and all your pains will disappear."

323.

And the sick followed his words,

for they knew that they would be healed.

324.

And there were also other sick who suffered much from their pains,

howbeit, they persisted in their fasting.

And their force was spent, and great heat tormented them.

325.

And when they would have risen from their bed to go to Jesus,

their heads began to turn,

as if it were a gusty wind which shook them,

and as oft as they tried to stand upon their feet they fell back to the ground.

The Essene Gospel of Peace CHAPTER TWELVE

Divisions 326-350

ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE 1

326.

Then Jesus went to them and said:

"You suffer, for Satan and his diseases torment your bodies.

Yet fear not, for their power over you will quickly end.

327.

For Satan is like a choleric neighbor who entered his neighbor's house while he was absent,

intending to take his goods away to his own house.

Yet some told the other that his enemy was ravaging within his house,

and he came back to his house, running.

328.

And when the wicked neighbor, having gathered together all that pleased him,

saw from afar the master of the house returning in haste,

then he was very wroth that he could not take all away,

329.

and set to breaking and spoiling all that was there, to destroy all,

so that even if the things might not become his,

the other might have nothing.

330.

Yet immediately the lord of the house came in,

and before the wicked neighbor fulfilled his purpose,

he took him and cast him out of the house.

331.

I tell you truly, even so did Satan enter your bodies

which are the habitation of God.

And he took in his power all that he wished to steal:

332.

Your breath, your blood, your bone, your flesh,

your bowels, your eyes, and your ears.

333.

Yet by your fasting and your prayer,

you have called back the lord of your body and his angels.

334.

And now Satan sees that the true lord of your body returns,

and that it is the end of his power.

335.

Wherefore, in his wrath he gathers his strength once again,

that he may destroy your bodies before the coming of the lord.

336.

It is for this that Satan torments you so grievously,

for he feels that the end is come.

337.

Yet let not your hearts tremble, for soon will the angels of God appear,

to occupy again their abodes and rededicate them as temples of God.

338.

And they will seize Satan and cast him from your bodies,

with all his diseases and all his uncleannesses.

339.

And happy will you be,

for you will receive the reward of your steadfastness,

and you will never see disease."

340.

And there was among the sick,

one that was more tormented by Satan than all the others.

And his body was as parched as a skeleton,

and his skin yellow as a falling leaf.

341.

He was so weak already that he could not, even upon his hands, crawl to Jesus,

and cried only to him from afar:

342.

"Master, have pity on me, for never has man suffered,

not from the beginning of the world, as I do suffer.

343.

I know that you are indeed sent by God, and I know that if you will,

you can straightway cast out Satan from my body.

344.

Do not the angels of God obey God's messenger?

345.

Come, Master, and cast out Satan from me now,

for he rages angrily within me and grievous is his torment."

346.

And Jesus answered him:

"Satan torments you thus greatly

because you have already fasted many days,

and you do not pay to him his tribute.

347.

You do not feed him with all the abominations

with which you hitherto defiled the temple of your spirit.

348.

You torment Satan with hunger,

and so in his anger he torments you also.

349.

Fear not, for I tell you, Satan will be destroyed before your body is destroyed;

for while you fast and pray,

The angels of God protect your body,

that Satan's power may not destroy you.

350.

And the anger of Satan is impotent against the angels of God."

The Essene Gospel of Peace CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Divisions 351-385

ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE 1

351.

Then they all came to Jesus and with loud cries besought him saying:

"Master, have compassion on him, for he suffers more than we all,

and if you do not at once cast Satan out of him,

we fear he will not live until tomorrow."

352.

And Jesus answered them:

"Great is your faith.

353.

Be it according to your faith, and you shall see soon, face to face,

the frightful countenance of Satan, and the power of the Son of Man.

354.

For I will cast out from you the powerful Satan by the strength of the innocent lamb of God,

the weakest creature of the Lord.

355.

For the holy spirit of God makes more powerful

the weakest than the strongest."

356.

And Jesus milked an ewe, which was feeding among the grass.

And he put the milk upon the sand made hot by the sun, saying:

357.

"Lo, the power of the angel of water has entered this milk.

And now the power of the angel of sunshine will enter it also."

358.

And the milk became hot by the strength of the sun.

"And now the angels of water and of sun will join with the angel of air."

359.

And lo, the vapor of the hot milk began to rise slowly into the air.

Jesus then said to the suffering man,

360.

“Breathe in by your mouth the strength of the angels of water, of sunshine, and of air,

that it may enter your body,

and cast out the Satan from you.”

361.

And the sick man whom Satan tormented did breathe in deeply,

the rising whitish vapor.

362.

And Jesus to said him,

"Immediately Satan will leave your body,

since for three days he starves and finds no food within you.

363.

He will come out of you to satisfy his hunger by the hot steaming milk,

for this food finds favor in his sight.

364.

He will smell its smell,

and will not be able to resist the hunger which has tormented him three days already.

365.

Yet the Son of Man will destroy his body,

that he may torment none else again."

366.

Then the sick man's body was seized with an ague,

and he retched as though he would vomit, but he could not.

367.

And he gasped for air, for his breath was spent.

And he fainted on the lap of Jesus.

"Now does Satan leave his body. See him."

368.

And Jesus pointed to the sick man's opened mouth.

And then they all saw with astonishment and terror

that Satan was coming out from his mouth in the shape of an abominable worm,

straight towards the steaming milk.

369.

Then Jesus took two sharp stones in his hands and crushed the head of Satan,

and drew out from the sick man all the body of the monster which was almost as long as the man.

370.

When the abominable worm came out of the sick man's throat,

he recovered at once his breath, and then all his pains ceased.

And the others looked with terror at the abominable body of Satan.

371.

[Jesus said,] "See, what an abominable beast you carried and nourished in your body for long years.

I have cast it out of you and killed it that it may never again torment you.

372.

Give thanks to God that his angels have made you free,

and sin no more, lest Satan return to you again.

373.

Let your body be henceforth a temple dedicated to your God."

374.

And they were all amazed at his words and at his power, and they said:

"Master, you are indeed God's messenger,

and do know all secrets."

375.

Answered Jesus, "And you, be true Sons of God,

that you also may partake in his power and in the knowledge of all secrets.

376.

For wisdom and power can come only from the love of God.

377.

Therefore, love your Heavenly Father and your Earthly Mother with all your heart,

and with all your spirit.

And serve them, that their angels may serve you also.

378.

Let all your deeds be [offerings] to God,

and feed not Satan, for the wages of sin is death.

379.

Yet with God lies the reward of the good, his love,

which is knowledge and power of eternal life."

380.

And they all knelt down to give thanks to God for his love.

381.

And Jesus departed, saying:

"I will come again to all who persist in prayer and fasting all the seventh day.

Peace be with you."

382.

And the sick man from whom Jesus had cast out the Satan, stood up,

for the strength of life had come back to him.

He breathed out deeply, and his eyes became clear, for every pain had left him.

383.

And he cast himself down upon the ground where Jesus had stood,

and he kissed the print of his feet and wept.

384.

And it was by the bed of a stream,

many sick fasted and prayed with God's angels for seven days and seven nights.

385.

And great was their reward, because they followed Jesus' words.

And with the passing of the seventh day, all their pains left them.

The Essene Gospel of Peace CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Divisions 386-420

ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE 1

386.

And when the sun rose over the horizon,

they saw Jesus coming towards them from the mountain,

with the brightness of the rising sun about his head.

387.

"Peace be with you."

Yet they said no word at all, and only cast themselves down before him,

in token of their healing.

388.

"Don't give thanks to me.

Give thanks to your Earthly Mother, who sent you her healing angels.

389.

Go, and sin no more,

that you may never again see disease.

And let the healing angels become your guardians."

390.

Yet they answered him:

"Whither should we go, Master,

for with you are the words of eternal life?

391.

Tell us, what are the sins which we must shun,

that we may nevermore see disease?"

392.

Jesus answered:

"Be it so according to your faith,"

and he sat down among them, saying:

393.

"It was said to them of old time,

'Honor thy Heavenly Father and thy Earthly Mother,

and do their commandments,

that thy days may be long upon the earth.'

394.

And next afterward was given this commandment,

'Thou shalt not kill,'

395.

for life is given to all by God,

and that which God has given, let not man take away.

396.

For, I tell you truly, from one Mother proceeds all that lives upon the earth.

Therefore, he who kills, kills his brother.

397.

And from him will the Earthly Mother turn away,

and will pluck from him her quickening breasts.

398.

And he will be shunned by her angels,

and Satan will have his dwelling in his body.

399.

And the flesh of slain beasts in his body will become his own tomb.

400.

For I tell you truly, he who kills, kills [ ],

and whoever eats the flesh of slain beasts, eats from the body of death.

401.

For in his blood, every drop of their blood turns to [ ]

in his breath, their breath to stink,

402.

in his eyes, their eyes to scales,

in his ears, their ears to waxy issue,

and their death will become his death.

403.

For only in the service of your Heavenly Father

are your debts of seven years forgiven in seven days.

404.

Yet Satan forgives you nothing and you must pay him for all,

For the wages of sin is death.

405.

'Eye for eye, tooth for tooth,

hand for hand, foot for foot;

406.

burning for burning, wound for wound;

life for life, death for death.'

407.

Kill not, neither eat the flesh of your innocent prey,

lest you become the slaves of Satan.

For that is the path of sufferings, and it leads unto death.

408.

Yet do the will of God,

that His angels may serve you on the way of life.

409.

Therefore, obey the words of God, [that say]

'Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed,

which is upon the face of all the earth,

410.

and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed;

to you it shall be for meat.

411.

And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air,

and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is breath of life,

I give every green herb for meat.

412.

Also the milk of every thing that moveth and liveth upon earth shall be meat for you;

even as the green herb have I given unto them,

so I give their milk unto you.

413.

Yet flesh, and the blood which quickens it, shall ye not eat.

414.

surely, your spurting blood will I require,

your blood wherein is your soul;

I will require all slain beasts, and the souls of all slain men.

415.

For I the Lord thy God am a god strong and jealous,

visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation

of them that hate me;

416.

and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me,

and keep my commandments.

417.

Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,

and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength:

418.

This is the first and greatest commandment.'

419.

And the second is like unto it:

'Love thy neighbor as thyself'

420.

There is none other commandment greater than these."

The Essene Gospel of Peace CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Divisions 421- 455

ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE 1

421.

And after these words they all remained silent, save one that called out:

"What am I to do, Master,

if I see a wild beast rend my brother in the forest?

422.

Shall I let my brother perish, or kill the wild beast?

Would not I thus transgress the law?"

423.

And Jesus answered:

"It was said to them of old time:

424.

"All beasts that move upon the earth, all the fish of the sea,

and all the fowl of the air are given into thy power."

425.

I tell you truly, of all creatures living upon the earth,

God created only man after his image.

426.

Wherefore beasts are for man, and not man for beasts.

427.

Therefore, you don't transgress the law if you kill the wild beast to save your brother's life.

428.

For I tell you truly, man is greater than the beast.

429.

Except he who kills beast without a cause,

though a beast attack him not,

through lust for slaughter, or for its flesh,

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