JUBILEES CHAPTER 18 ~ 23

JUBILEES 18

1 And then Ælohim said to him,
“Abraham, Abraham,” at rim
He said “Indeed, here am I.” 2 And
He said “Take your beloved son’s hand
Whom You love, even Isaac, and
Go into the high country, and
Offer him on one of the hills
Which I’ll point out to you.” 3 With chills
He rose early in morning light
And saddled his ass, in delight
Took his two young men with him, and
Isaac his son, and chopped by hand
The wood of the burnt offering’s stand,
And he came to the place preferred
On the third day, he saw in word
The place afar off. 4 And he came
To a well of water in fame,
And said to his young men, ‘Abide
Here with the donkey, and I’ll side
With the lad to go yonder, when
We’ll worship and come back with care.’

Really, Beloved, was it not once enough
That you regarded Sarah in the buff
And yielded righteousness and justice to
Her jealousy in stench come up to view?
Now must you yield to Mastema, the one
That Christians call the devil when they’re done?
Religious practice that’s accommodation
To evil, even if of divine station,
Must end sometime, and soon with an elation,
As temporary lot of just one nation.
Beloved, I see the rites go to the dust
That are not mentioned in gold without rust
In Decalogue of truth above the skies
Where Sinai’s mountain still rears up to rise.

Here You neglect the word only for son,
The word in Genesis that shows the run
Was merely ritual, rite of passage
That had its set formula and its age.
The lack is of little import, and will
Quieten perhaps rumours of the bill
That claims the text is broken by desire
To make Isaac alone the son of fire.
Vain hopes. Mankind always looks at Your word
Ten degrees below how he looks at turd.
I set aside deduction and the hand
Of my experience upon the land
And step into the burning fire of love
And find You still beneath, within, above.

5 And he took the wood of the burnt-
Offering and laid it out as learnt
On Isaac his son, and he took
In his hand the fire like a book
And the knife, and they both went out
Together to that place devout.
6 And Isaac asked his father, “Father,”
And he said “Here am I, no bother,
My son.” And then he said to him,
“Indeed the fire, and the knife grim,
And the wood, but where is the sheep
For burnt-offering, father, to keep?”
7 He said “Ælohim will provide
For Himself a sheep to abide
As a burnt-offering, my son.” And
He drew near to the place at hand
Of the mount of Ælohim. 8 And
He built an altar, and he placed
The wood on the altar, enlaced
And bound Isaac his son, and placed
Him on the wood which was upon
The altar, and stretched forth to drawn
Knife in his hand to slay Isaac
His son. 9 And I stood and not slack
Before him, and before the prince
Mastema, and YHWH said in glints,
“Tell him not to lay hand on lad,
Nor do anything to him bad,
For I have shown that he fears YHWH.”
10 I called to him from heavenly crew,
And said unto him, “Abraham,
Abraham,” he said “Here I am,
Indeed,” though terrified. 11 And I
Said to him, “Lay not your hand on
The lad, neither do any con
To him, for now I’ve shown that You
Fear YHWH, and have not withheld true
Your son, your first-born son, from me.”

Each in the drama knows his practiced lines,
Isaac asked for the sheep, though wood and vines
And fire are ready, Abraham by rote
Repeats the ancient ceremonies note.
Vicarious the sacrifice is done
Throughout the ancient world and under sun
Of modern times in many a tribe’s vale.
None of humankind is outside the pale.
Each son at puberty must die and then
Be raise to the life lived by the grown men.
You look upon the rites, Beloved, and smile,
And say Your lines too perfect, without guile.
Beloved, I set my heart to obey You
As well as Abraham obeyed earth’s crew.

Your angel, the angel of YHWH, dictates
The book of Jubilees where Moses waits,
And sometimes in the narrative may come
In Your name, my Beloved, as though the strum
Were from Your breath without angel between,
As though there were no messenger there seen.
And yet I know the hand that kept the knife
From snuffing out the precious silver life
Of Isaac and of Ishmael in his day
Was that of the angel sent in the way.
Beloved, though I may think I see Your past
And hear Your words on breath of the unfast,
I know that none see or hear You as You
Are, but as angel of the Lord in view.

12 And the prince Mastema was put
To shame, and shamed from head to foot.
And Abraham lifted his eyes
And looked, and, as come from the skies,
Indeed there was a ram caught . . . by
His horns, and Abraham went nigh
And took the ram and offered it
For a burnt-offering and one fit
Instead of his son. 13 Abraham
Called that place “YHWH’s seen where I am,”
So that it is said YHWH has seen,
That is Mount Sion and ravine.

Praised be Your name, Beloved, if sacred rite,
Invented by Mastema, puts to flight
His pride and power. You turn the evil notion
To good as soon as it’s put into motion.
I lift my eyes from earthly sacrifice,
The knife held firmly in my grasp and vice,
And hear Your voice, expected though it be
In the rounded words of ceremony,
And through the curtain of theatre’s glint
I hear the whispers of the light and hint
That You are all the real behind the fair
And behind the ugliness everywhere.
Though snow is white to cover muddy stains,
Your covering is core down to the pains.

14 And YHWH called Abraham by name
A second time from heaven’s hame,
As he caused us to come to speak
To him, in the name of YHWH seek.
15 And he said “By Myself I’ve sworn,
Says YHWH, because you’ve done unshorn
This thing, and not withheld your son,
Your beloved son, from Me when done,
That in blessing I will bless you,
And in multiplying you too
I will multiply your seed true.
As the stars of the sky they’ll be,
And as the sand upon the sea.
16 “And your seed shall inherit all
Their enemies’ cities in stall,
And in your seed shall all the folk
Of the earth be blessed, as I spoke
So you’ve obeyed My voice, and I
Have shown to all both far and nigh
That You are faithful to Me in
All that I’ve told you without sin.
Go in peace.” 17 And Abraham went
To his young men, and as were sent
They got up, together arrived
In Beer Sheba as all survived.

The promises to Abraham are given
To all his seed, both shriven and unshriven,
And all the families of earth to bless
Or curse as each one will, to know or guess.
The promises are kept in every soul
That rises with the sun to reach his goal,
They echo in the heart and mind and tongue
Of those who bow beneath rosary strung
And those who merely plough the sod and floor
Of factory to find nothing the more
Than bread and beer. Each one lives in the blessing
Or fear. Beloved, I touch promise addressing
To You my plaint, petition, praise and penance.
I enter with the throng of Your house tenants.

18 And Abraham [2010 A.M.] lived by the Well
Of the Oath, or Beer Sheba’s tell,
Celebrated this festival
Each year, as seven days with joy,
And called it festival’s employ
To YHWH according to the day
Of seven when he went his way
And returned in peace or Islam.
19 And as it was ordained in psalm
And written on the heavenly plates
Regarding Israel’s estates
And his folk that they should observe
This feast seven days and not swerve
But with the joy of feasting’s verve.

The Passover is reaffirmed each time
The soul enters the new year and its clime
And sees the spring return. The gesture from
The renewed heart is not of heathendom
Despite the mock death and arising come.
Mastema’s faith is tattered by the wear
Of even those who fail to see Your share.
The spring rite follows Isaac to his fate,
The autumn one Ishmael at the last gate.
Between the two Noah’s great celebration
Of resurrection comes to greet the nation.
I too, Beloved, awake and take my station
To slay myself upon the slaughter ground
And whirl of as burnt offering at the sound.

WEEK 24 JUBILEES 19

1 And in the first year of the first
Week in the forty-second burst
Of jubilee, Abraham came
Back and lived opposite the frame
Of Hebron, that is Kirjath Arba,
Two weeks of years he stayed in harbour.
2 And in the first year of the third
Week of this jubilee as heard
The days of Sarah’s life occurred
As accomplished, and she died in
Hebron. 3 And Abraham with din
Went to mourn her and to bury
Her, and we tried him [too to see]
If his spirit were patient and
He were not indignant at hand
In the words of his mouth, and he
Was found patient in this, was not
Disturbed by what became his lot.

I might have thought the trouble Sarah gave
It might be some relief to find her grave,
But then Abraham like women and men
Before and after him, loved and again
In love saw not the blemishes she had.
The outward beauty too covers the bad
In heart and character, a thing that’s sad.
No wonder so many with rankling smile
Engage in facelift or makeover’s pile.
But Abraham takes all in patience, both
The beauty of Sarah and what she quoth
Of evil to darken Abraham’s days.
Beloved, I grasp the patience of his stays,
And stop to praise You in my roundelays.

4 For in patience of spirit he
Conversed with the children of Heth,
That they should give him where in death
A place to bury all his dead.
5 And YHWH gave him grace before all
Who saw him, and he begged in thrall
With gentleness the sons of Heth,
And they gave him for his last breath
The field of the double cave near
Mamre, that is Hebron, for clear
Four hundred pieces of silver.
6 And they begged him and to aver
Saying “We shall give it to you
For nothing,” but he would not chew
A thing for nothing from their hands,
For he gave the price of the lands,
The full amount, and he bowed down
Before them twice before the town,
And after this buried his dead
In the double cave for a bed.

The pride of humankind is that the way
Must always be paid with one’s own coin’s sway.
I doubt not Abraham knew that mankind
Is like the beast, the burden of the hind,
Whose breath goes forth and there’s no matter where
He sheds the feeble flesh and bones that share
His wondered voyage on the cosmic air.
He bought the field with coin taken from earth
Knowing that all is as nothing of worth
Or else of infinite in gratitude.
He bought to make glad Heth’s sons without feud.
I too know the joy that gives full amount
For what I get of space in which to count
Your blessings in air, nourishment and fount.

7 And all the days of Sarah’s life
Were one hundred and twenty-seven
Years, that is, two jubilees’ strife
And four weeks and one year in heaven:
These are the days of the years of
The life of Sarah and her love.

One hundred twenty-seven years of fame
As wife of Abraham, fugitive’s flame,
Count but a drop upon the jubilee.
At fifty-five I scarcely rise to see
What she must have known of the desert way,
Of human hearts, and how the camels sway,
And where the water seeps up from the dry,
And how to read the writing of the sky.
She grew up in the urban wealth and leisure
Only to be driven out of its treasure
Into the howling, empty, sanded measure
Of waiting. My Beloved, for every soul
There is a time when she has seen the goal
Struck to the heart, taken in Sarah’s toll.

8 This is the tenth trial wherewith
Abraham was tried, not a myth,
And he was found faithful in all,
Patient in spirit to the call.
9 And he said not a single word
About the rumour in the land
How Ælohim saying averred
That He would give it in his hand
And to his seed after him too,
And he begged place there to accrue
And bury his dead, for he was
Found faithful, and was as he does
Recorded on the heavenly plates
As friend of Ælohim and mates.

Ten trials and only ten come to meet men
And women in this world of light and glen.
Ten words in command or in promise spoken
On Mount Sinai, and writ on tablets broken,
Make trial of every soul on earth to show
Whether experiment in flesh in tow
Is worth the dearth of sense when on the go.
The breath of life, the “I” that You have spent
On every man and woman was not sent
Alone to eat and reproduce awhile.
You wished to see the universe in guile
Of veils to know how flesh would meet the trial,
In ecstasy or pain a further mile.
Each soul at last finds out what You once meant.

10 And in the fourth year thereof he
Took a wife for his son in fee
Isaac and her name was Rebekah [2020 A.M.]
[The daughter of Bethuel’s echo,
The son of Nahor, brother of
Abraham] Laban’s sister love
And daughter of Bethuel, and
Bethuel was the son in hand
Of Melca, who was Nahor’s wife,
Brother of Abraham for life.

It took Abraham one extra lifetime
In generations to produce in prime
A son ready for marriage, one might think.
But no, it was Isaac late at the brink
At forty years who at last caught a wife.
Here are the cousin kinships come to life
In cross-cousin marriages to the fife,
And later the avunculate in strife
With Laban and his sister’s son with knife.
The parallel tradition is here first,
Which is a thing remarkable to burst,
And how they find the path to make the change
Is something that I at least have found strange.
In my observing I step out of range.

11 And Abraham took to himself
A third wife, not satyr nor elf,
And her name was Keturah, from
Among the daughters of his sum
In household servants, for Hagar
Had died before Sarah in scar.

The only note of Hagar’s death it seems
Is here between Abraham’s female dreams.
At least the writer knows Abraham loved
The bright Hagar until the day she shoved,
Or he would not have mentioned her demise
Before Abraham married the last prize.
Keturah without Sarah to impede
Was able to produce a great stampede,
As Hagar might have done without the pill
Of Sarah pushing her against her will.
Beloved, I recognize the beauty still
And greatness of all three wives on the hill.
Two mothers of prophets, one left to fill
The mundane task of keeping domicile.

And she bare him six sons, Zimram,
12 And Jokshan, Medan, and Midian,
And Ishbak, and Shuah in pram,
In the two weeks of years left him.
13 And in the sixth week, in the rim
Of its second year, came to bear
Rebekah to Isaac two sons,
Jacob and Esau’s benisons,
And [2046 A.M.] Jacob was smooth and upright,
And Esau was fierce in his sight,
A man of the field, hairy, while
Jacob lived in tents with a smile.

If I should choose between the field and tent,
Judging by how my ways in childhood went,
I figure I should be like bold Esau
In that I often sleep beneath the maw
Of the bare sky to see the stars at last
Before my eyelids quivered and down cast.
If I should choose between smooth and the hair,
I think I’d be like Esau of the pair.
But I am neither upright, no, nor fierce,
Although at times oddities may transpierce
My rampant equinimity severe.
So neither Rebekah nor Isaac would
Have favoured me among the bad and good.
An outcast among those I’d be, I fear.

14 And the youths grew, and Jacob learned
To write, but Esau learning spurned,
For he was a man of the field,
A hunter, and he learnt war’s yield,
And all his deeds were fierce and strong.
15 And Abraham loved Jacob, but
Isaac loved Esau for his cut.

The book of Genesis give mother all
The fault of claiming Jacob for the call.
It makes more sense that Abraham mixed in
The family to cause the row and din.
As grandfather I know myself how true
It is that mixing into younger crew
Is tempting, such a tempting thing to do.
So Abraham and Isaac favour best
Each the son each would at the last invest.
Beloved, I sometimes think human relations
Are nothing but a waste of time in nations.
There’s too much pawing in attempt to keep
Time from moving on in its giant sweep
Into the still and calm of the great deep.

16 And Abraham saw Esau’s deeds,
And knew that in Jacob were seeds
Of his name, and he called Rebekah
And gave commandment not to peck her
Regarding Jacob, for he knew
That she loved Jacob much more too
Than Esau. And he said to her:
17 My daughter, watch what will occur
To my son Jacob, for he shall
Be in my stead on earth a pal,
And for a blessing among men,
And for the glory come again
Of the whole seed of Shem. 18 For I
Know that YHWH will choose him to ply
A people for possession to
Himself, above all folk that do
Reside upon the face of earth.
19 Indeed, Isaac my son in worth
Holds Esau more than Jacob, but
I see that You truly clear cut
Love Jacob. 20 Add still further to
Your kindness to him as you do,
Let your eyes be on him in love,
For he shall be blessing above
To us on the earth and from now
And to all ages of earth’s brow.

As Abraham rises above the stroke
Of mere delight in smoothness to the oak,
Above affection’s selfishness and steel
To clear sight on the hearth and on the heel,
He finds the wisdom to predict the weal
Of Jacob and his blessing to all folk
Who live on earth, to those who know his name
And those who merely live against his fame
With diamond of truth in righteous breast,
Without the syllables of Jacob’s vest.
The prophecy of Abraham’s well shown
To be true as Jacob’s brightest of bone
In Moses fled to Sinai to atone
For what among men had been to their shame.

21 Let your hands be strong also let
Your heart rejoice in your son yet,
In Jacob, For I’ve loved him far
Beyond all my sons similar.
He shall be blessed for ever, and
His seed shall fill the whole earth’s land.
22 If a man can number the sand
Of the earth, His seed also shall
Be numbered though inimical.
23 And all the blessings wherewith YHWH
Has blessed me and my children’s crew
Shall belong to Jacob and his
Seed always. 24 And in his seed’s biz
My name shall be blessed, and the name
Of my fathers, Shem, and the same
Noah, Enoch, Mahalalel,
And Enos, and Seth, and the swell
Adam. 25 And these shall serve to lay
The foundations of heaven’s way,
And to strengthen the earth, renew
All the lights in firmament’s due.”

In Genesis the promises You gave
Were always spoken to the man, not slave.
Here Abraham contrives to transmit to
A woman what before was just man’s due.
Transmission of the great and faithful trust
Is something sacred, and as sacred must
Be given to the one best fitted for
The keeping of the eternal in score.
It’s choosing man above woman’s estate
That makes so often garbled faith of late.
The heart open to what seems foolishness
To men is often the only address
Whereby You can preserve a hint and guess
Of what You would, Beloved, come here to bless.

26 He called Jacob before the eyes
Of Rebekah his mother wise,
And kissed him, and blessed him, and said
27 “Jacob, my beloved son and led,
Whom my soul loves, may Ælohim
Bless you from above heaven’s dream,
And may He bless you wherewith He
Blessed Adam, and Enoch, and see
Noah, and Shem, with all the things
Of which He told me, all the things
Which He promised to give me, may
He cause to cleave to you today
And to your seed for ever, long
As days and years of heaven’s song
Above the earth. 28 “And spirits of
Mastema shall not rule above
You or over your seed to turn
You from the Lord, who is to learn
Your God from henceforth evermore.
29 “And may YHWH Ælohim before
Be a father to you and you
The first-born son, and in the view
Of the people always. 30 “Now go
In peace, my son, to meet the show.”
And then they went forth, both of them
Together from Abraham’s hem.
31 And Rebekah loved Jacob, and
With all her heart and all her soul,
Very much more than Esau’s hand,
But Isaac loved Esau a whole
Lot more than Jacob in his land.

Abraham by-passed Isaac when he gave
The blessing to Jacob, the willing slave.
In presence of his mother and alone
He gave the blessing without broken bone
Of seasoned game in pottage boiled with stone.
The blessing fraught with eating is the source
Of human destiny caught in remorse.
Who taste the microwave’s brash store would dream
Of the electric range that made the cream
Taste better, but back of that is the fire
Of gas that leaves nothing yet to desire
But the cookstove of wood, and that tastes less
Than open fireplace used to make in mess.
But nothing tastes so good as stone-boiled cress.

JUBILEES 20

1 The forty-second jubilee,
The first year of the seventh week,
Abraham called Ishmael to be, [2052 (2045?) A.M.]
And his twelve sons, Isaac to seek
His two sons, and the six sons of
Keturah, and their sons for love.
2 And he commanded them that they
Should observe the way of YHWH, they
Should work righteousness every day,
And love each his neighbour, and act
In this way towards all men in fact,
That they should each so walk to do
Judgement and righteousness on the earth.
3 That they should circumcise the crew
Of their sons, according to worth
In the covenant which He made
With them, and not turn as if strayed
To the right hand or to the left
From all the paths which YHWH enfeoffed
To us, and also that we keep
Ourselves from fornication’s creep
And uncleanness, [and renounce from
Amongst us all uncleanness’ sum].

Abraham gave commandment to his sons,
And treated all alike before the runs
Of righteousness, all alike should relate
To judgement and keep Your laws in pure state.
The true faith was not given but to one
To hold alone in his family when done.
Isaac was not the only circumcised
And entered in to covenant apprised,
But so was Ishmael and also the young
Sons of Keturah, all were given tongue.
Who now imagine that one nation here
Has right and duty to live in Your fear
And love ignores the universal tear.
All return to Your face and all appear.

4 And if any woman or maid
Commit fornication’s parade
Among you, burn her then with fire
And let them not commit for ire
Such fornication with her after
Their eyes and their heart’s mocking laughter,
And let them not take wives among
Canaanite daughters to be stung,
For the seed of Canaan will be
Rooted out of the land freely.

The fornication of Canaan is not
Merely in images and false gods got,
Nor in free use of fertility’s plot
In sacred prostitute and dog begot.
Canaan’s first sin, the one that sealed his doom
Was settling in Shem’s sons’ places and room
Instead of plodding on along the shore
Of northern Africa to find his score.
As You, Beloved, have set the bounds to each
As where they should live, cultivate and teach,
You also remember the failure to
Keep in sight and in love the land that’s due.
The son of wanderers in a stranger’s land
I have no roots to root out with my band.

5 He told them of the giants’ judgement,
He told of the Sodomites’ judgement,
How they had been judged on account
Of their wickedness’s amount,
And had died in their fornication,
And uncleanness, and in the nation
Corruption through their fornication.
6 “And guard yourselves from all uncleanness
And fornication and from meanness
Of sin, lest you make of our name
A curse, and your whole life a shame,
And all your sons to be destroyed
By the sword, and you once enjoyed
Become accursed like Sodom, and
All your remnant as sons in land
Of Gomorrah. 7 “I implore you,
My sons, love the God and the true
Of heaven and cling to His commands.
And do not walk by idols’ hands,
And after their uncleannesses,
8 “And make not for yourselves what is
Molten or graven idols, for
They are a vanity in store,
And there is no spirit in them,
For they are work of men’s hands’ gem,
And all who trust in them, trust naught.
9 “Do not serve them, nor worship aught,
But serve the most high Ælohim,
And worship Him awake or dream,
Always await, hope for His face,
And work uprightness in your place
And righteousness before Him too,
That He may have pleasure in you
And grant you His mercy, and send
Rain upon you morning and end
Of day at evening, and bless all
Your works done on the earth in stall,
And bless your bread and bless your drink,
And bless the fruit of your womb’s brink
And the fruit of your land, and bless
The herds of your cattle, and dress
The flocks of your sheep. 10 “And you will
Be for a blessing on earth’s hill,
And all nations of the earth will
Desire you, and bless your sons in
My name, that they may be blessed kin
As I am.” 11 And he gave Ishmael
And to his sons, and without guile
To the sons of Keturah, gifts,
And sent them away from the drifts
Of Isaac his son, and he gave
Everything to Isaac his son.
12 And Ishmael and his sons, the brave,
And sons of Keturah when done
And their sons, went together and
Lived from Paran up to the land
Of entering in to Babylon
In all the land under the sun
Which is towards the East toward
The desert and the desert’s sword.
13 And these mingled together, and
Their name was called throughout the land
Arabs, and Ishmaelites in band.

Even this day descendants of the man
Make tracks across the desert’s caravan.
Even this day the Arab looks abroad
Upon the hills that Abraham once trod,
And in his white and flowing garb remains
To bow before Your throne upon the plains.
I’ve heard the rising voice call all the prayer,
I’ve seen the minaret rise on the air,
And joined the line of men come from the fields
To bow beneath the green and glittering yields.
Beloved, I see the sons of Hagar and
Keturah press across their barren land,
And then returned to bow alone before
The birch and firs upon my own lakeshore.

JUBILEES 21

1 And in the sixth year of the week
Number seventh this jubilee
Abraham called Isaac to seek
His son, and [2057 (2050?) A.M.] commanded him free,
Saying “I’m old, know not the day
Of my death, and am full of days.
2 “And indeed, I am on my way
One hundred seventy-five years’ sway,
And throughout all of my life’s days
I have remembered YHWH for praise,
And sought with all my heart to do
His will, and to walk right and true
In all His ways. 3 “My soul has hated
Idols, given my heart unabated
And spirit that I might observe
To do the will of Him, not swerve
From Him it was created me.
4 “For He’s Ælohim, lives to be,
And He’s faithful, and He’s holy,
And He is righteous beyond all,
And there’s with Him no unjust fall
Accepting of men’s persons and
No accepting gifts at their hand,
For Ælohim is righteous, and
Executes judgment on all those
Who transgress His commandments’ rose
And despise His covenant’s verve.
5 “And do, my son, then to observe
His commandments and ordinance
And His judgments, and do not dance
After the abominations
And after graven idols’ buns,
And after molten images.
6 “And eat no blood at all that is
Of animals or cattle, or
Of any kind of bird in store
That flies upon the face of sky.
7 “And if you slay a victim by
An acceptable peace offering,
Slay it, and pour out its blood spring
Upon the altar, all the fat
Of the offering offer thereat
Upon the altar with fine flour
And the meat offering in its hour
Mingled with oil, with its drink due,
Offer them all together too
On the altar of burnt offering,
It is a sweet savour to spring
Before YHWH. 8 “And You will offer
The fat of the sacrifice stir
Of thank offerings upon the fire
Which is on the altar and byre,
And the fat which is on the belly,
And all the fat on inward welly
And the two kidneys, and the fat
That is upon them, and where sat
The loins and liver You’ll remove,
Together with the kidneys’ groove.

Keeping commandments is a thing that’s nice
As well as right, but I find sacrifice
A squeamish thing, and more than that requiring
Ignoring command not to kill retiring.
I do not mind the oil nor spurn the wine,
But balk at blood of goat and blood of kine.
I do not want the fat thing for myself,
And as for meat I’d rather gift the elf
Than have it on my plate. How can You smell
The sacrificial smoke and think it well?
I do not want the liver, You may have
The whole of it as well as horse of Slav.
Beloved, I hear the limiting You set
On slaughter and sacrifice once they’re met.

9 “And offer all these for a sweet
Savour acceptable as treat
Before YHWH, with its meat-offering
And with its drink-offering and spring,
For a sweet savour, and the bread
Of the offering to YHWH as said.
10 “And eat its meat on that day and
On the second day by command,
And let not sun on second day
Go down upon it in its way
Till it is eaten, and let none
Of it be left over to sun
Of the third day, for it is not
Acceptable because of rot
And let it no longer be eaten,
And all who eat of it unbeaten
Will bring sin on themselves like cretin,
For so I’ve found it written in
My forefathers’ books without sin,
And in the words of Enoch, and
In the words of Noah to stand.”

I wonder that the book of Enoch taught
According to Abraham that the plot
Of eating any meat at all by plan
Was righteous thing to do for any man.
Genesis brings meat to the fore when flood
Had destroyed everything that had no blood,
And every green tree with its fruit and bud,
And left only the seven of the clean.
Only under dire circumstance was seen
The command to up, slay and cook and eat.
Since then killing has become sort of treat.
The slayer’s heart is seen in every land,
In every army and in every band
Of officers and clerics at king’s hand.

11 “And on all your oblations you
Shall pour salt, and let not the view
Of covenant’s salt lack in all
Your oblations before YHWH’s call.

Ah salt! Forget not salt! The Doukhobor
Is right at least upon bread and salt’s score.
My oblation is but myself alone,
My blood and flesh and tender, slender bone,
My hands and feet, my body and my soul.
That’s all I bring alive in offerings goal.
Thank goodness when I taste the back of hand
I find I’m salty and not contraband.
Perhaps, though imperfect, my offering
Is acceptable at Your hearth and spring.
If not, the fault is Yours who did create
Me from a clot, a breath and clay to sate
The water from which all things living ring.
Beloved, look on this burnt lamb shivering.

12 “And as for sacrificial wood,
Beware of bringing other wood
For the altar besides these kinds:
Cypress, bay, almond, fir, and blinds
Of pine, cedar, savin, and fig,
Olive, myrrh, laurel, and the big
Aspalathus. 13 “And of these kinds
Of wood lay on the altar under
The sacrifice, such without wonder
As have been tested for their sight,
And do not lay there any blight
Of split or dark wood, but the hard
And clean, without fault, and unbarred
A sound and new growth, do not lay
There old wood, [for its fragrance gay
Is gone] for there’s no longer scent
In it as before the scent went.
14 “Besides these kinds of wood there’s none
Other that you shall place when done,
For the fragrance is gone away,
And the smell of its fragrance gay
Does not go up to heaven’s way.

The Torah does not relay what You like
About the sacrifice when brought in spike.
From that writing I might have taught the smell
Of burning flesh was what it took to tell
You happiness, but now I know the truth
Is that You love sweet smelling wood for ruth
That leaves a perfume on the air when burnt.
The sweetest woods there I know I have learnt
Are what You seek. Here in the place where I
Live and eat, sleep, in comfort keeping dry,
There are no such woods but the slender one
Called juniper for berries under sun.
Unfortunately by the law that’s here
I cannot cut and burn that wood this year.

15 “Observe this commandment and do,
My son, to be both right and true
In all your deeds. 16 “And at all times
Be clean in your body, with rimes
Wash yourself in water and clean
Before you approach to be seen
To offer on the altar, and
Wash yourself both your foot and hand
Before you draw near to the band
Of the altar, and when You’ve done
Sacrificing, wash under sun
Again your hands, again your feet.
17 “And let no blood appear to greet
Upon you nor upon your clothes,
Be on your guard, my son, in throes
Against blood, be upon your guard
Exceedingly, cover it scarred
With dust. 18 “And do not eat the blood
For it is the soul, eat no blood
Whatever. 19 “And take no gifts for
The blood of man, lest it be gore
Shed with impunity, without
Judgement, for it’s the blood without
That’s shed that causes earth to sin,
And the earth cannot be within
Cleansed from the blood of man but by
The blood of him who shed it nigh.

Baptisms often offered and replete
With washing of both face and hands and feet,
And the whole body, are required to meet
You, my Beloved, in sacrifice before
The altar when the soul comes from the store.
Ablution is right by this word when one
Comes to the altar, and when offering’s done.
I bring myself in sacrifice and feel
The cleansing water makes its own appeal
For righteousness. And yet I know the stand
Of sacrifice is not required in hand,
But because human hearts are bloated with
The heathen sacrifice of song and myth,
You accept limited editions’ band.

20 “And take no present, take no gift
For the blood of a man to lift:
Blood for blood, that you be accepted
Before YHWH, the Most High excepted
Ælohim, for He is defence
Of the good: and that your presence
May be preserved from every wrong,
And that He may save you from throng
Of every kind of death. 21 “I see,
My son, that all the works agree
Of the children of men in sin
And wickedness, and every bin
Of all their deeds is uncleanness,
Abomination and a mess.
And with them there’s no righteousness.

The holy Qur’an more than just allows
The payment for some slaying without vows.
The Torah thinks that blood for blood be shown
Is the best way to come before Your throne,
Prohibiting the mercy that is known
To later generations of such cows.
The truth is mercy in Qur’an has spent
Itself in treasures before swine relent.
To buy one’s way out of a murder suit
Results in more and more eager pursuit
Of killing for such slight honours has had
Brother against sister for weddings bad.
Beloved, I look back to Your first word’s pain
And in its threat regain the safe and sane.

22 “Beware you do not walk their ways
And tread in their paths or their stays,
And sin a sin that is to death
Before Most High God on your breath.

Beware indeed! I wonder if Qur’an
Had made the same call to Abraham’s spawn,
They had been careful not to kill the pawn.
I doubt indeed, knowing the road upon
Which human steps dance, that warning of wrong
Would suffice for a changing in the song.
The melodies of childhood must remain
And nothing can efface their grace and pain.
Once taught to drink blood and to dip the sword,
There’s no returning, not even to Lord.
Beloved, let me beware the ways I’ve learned
To tread from childhood that Your laws have spurned,
And give me grace to waken from the dream
The populace in stranglehold would seem.

Else He will [hide His face from you
And] give you back into the crew
Of your transgression and their due,
And root you out of the land true,
And your seed likewise under heaven,
And your name and your seed and leaven
Shall perish from the whole earth new.
23 “Turn away from all their deeds and
All their uncleanness in the land,
And observe Most High God’s command,
And do His will and be upright
In all things. 24 “And He will with might
Bless you in all your deeds, and will
Raise up from you a plant and hill
Of righteousness through all the earth,
Throughout all ages of the earth,
And my name and your name shall not
Be forgotten but ever taught
Under heaven. 25 “Go now, my son
In peace. May the Most High when done,
Ælohim, my God and your God,
Strengthen you to do on the sod
His will, and may He bless your seed
And all their residue indeed
For all the ages and for ever,
With all righteous blessings and clever,
That You may be a blessing on
All the earth.” 26 When he had withdrawn
From him he went rejoicing on.

Abraham looks that his name shall be known
Along with Yours, Beloved, on earthly stone.
That’s why, no doubt, prayer in prostration seals
Its words with contract of two worthy deals,
Your unity above all things in field,
And blessings on the prophet and his yield.
In blessing Abraham and progeny
Of prophets and divine guides on his tree,
I pray I may be blessing on the earth
And channel of Your love for what it’s worth.
Beloved, at this end of earth’s history
I mind the words of Abraham’s decree,
And bless both his name and Your own to be
The hallmark of my prayer for unity.

WEEK 25 JUBILEES 22

1 And it happened in the first week
In the forty-fourth jubilee,
In the second year at its peak,
That is, in the year in whose fee
Abraham died, that Isaac and
Ishmael came from Beer Sheba’s land
To celebrate the feast of weeks,
That is, the feast of first fruits’ peaks
Of the harvest to Abraham,
Their father, and then Abraham
Rejoiced because his two sons came.
2 For Isaac rich in gear and name
Was in Beer Sheba, and Isaac
Used to go out and see his pack
Of possessions and then return
To his father and not to spurn.
3 And in those days Ishmael came out
To see his father round about,
And they both came together, and
Isaac offered a sacrifice
For a burnt offering, from his hand
Presented it as to suffice
Upon his father’s altar nice
Which he’d made in Hebron precise.
4 And he offered a thank offering
And made a feast of joy to spring
Before Ishmael, his brother: and
Rebekah made new cakes and grand
From the new corn, and gave in hand
To Jacob, her son, to take them
To Abraham, his father’s hem,
And from the first fruits of the land,
That he might eat and bless in band
Creator of all things before
He died. 5 And Isaac, too, in store
Sent by the hand of Jacob to
Abraham a best thank offering,
That he might eat and drink there too.
6 And he ate and drank of the spring,
Blessed Most High God for everything,
Who has created heaven and earth,
Who’s made all the fat things of worth
Upon the earth, and given them
To the children of men as gem
That they might eat and drink and bless
Their Creator in their address.

Isaac and Ishmael come as brother and
As friends to honour Abraham in band,
And keep the feast of firstfruits in the land.
All is at peace, there is no discord’s sham
Among the descendants of Abraham.
Who keep Your law and welcome time of praise
And thanks to You, and then an offering raise,
Need not find use for bickering in ways
That part brother from brother where they stand.
It’s possible to have peace in the land
And give to each his due with ample hand.
Who keep Your simple law and praise Your name
Have no reason to infringe on the claim
Of brother, father, son all share their game.

7 ‘And now I give thanks unto You,
My God, because You have in due
Caused me to see this day: indeed,
I’m one hundred seventy-five years,
An old man full of days to plead,
And all my days as it appears
Have been in peace to my Islam.
8 The sword of the foe under palm
Has not overcome me in all
That You have given in my thrall,
And my children all my life’s days
Until this day. 9 My God of praise,
May Your mercy and Your peace be
Upon Your servant, and in fee
Upon the seed of his sons, that
They may be to You where You sat
A chosen nation and in heir
From among all the nations’ air
Of the earth from now till the days
Of all the ages of earth’s praise,
Unto all ages.’ 10 And he called
Jacob and said ‘My son installed,
Jacob, may the God of all bless
You and strengthen in righteousness,
And His will before Him, and may
He choose you and your seed today
That you may become heritage,
A folk following His will’s page
Forever. And do you, my son,
Jacob, draw near, kiss me when done.’
11 And he drew near and kissed him, and
He said ‘Blessed be my son at hand
Jacob and all the sons of God
Most High, forever on the sod.
May Ælohim give unto you
A seed of righteousness as crew,
And of your sons to sanctify
In the whole earth, may nations try
To serve you, and all nations bow
Themselves before your seed on brow.
12 Be strong in the presence of men,
And exercise authority
Over all the seed of Seth then.
Then your ways and the ways to be
Of your sons will be justified,
So they’ll be holy nation tried.
13 May the Most High Ælohim give
You all the blessings that I live
Wherewith He has blessed me and by
Which He blessed Noah from the sky
And Adam, may they rest upon
The sacred head of your seed’s spawn
From generations to all ages.
14 And may He cleanse you from all stages
Of unrighteousness and impure,
That you may be forgiven sure
Of all transgressions, which unknown
To you you may have done and sown.
And may He strengthen you, and bless.
May you gain the whole earth’s address,
And may He renew covenant
With you. 15 That You may be not scant
To Him a nation as an heir
For all the ages of the fair,
And that He may be to you and
To your seed a God in the land
In truth and righteousness throughout
All the days of the earth about.

Though Abraham came to bless Jacob when
He gathered all his children once again,
That does not mean that every child born to
Jacob was given priestcraft as in due.
Only Levi among the twelve is known
To have that blessing from Abraham shown,
And of his sons Eleasar was chosen,
While all the others were left out and frozen.
Nay, two elders of his were struck down dead.
You, my Beloved, raise and put down instead.
Today the Cohen rarely takes his place
Among the chosen and the priestly race.
And Revelation says to foot the bill,
Since all are kings and priest, and all fulfil.

16 And do you, my son Jacob, mind
My words, observing and not blind
To the commands of Abraham,
Your father: separate from ham
Of the nations, and eat not what
They eat with them: and do not glut
According to their works, and be
Not their associate in glee,
For their works are unclean, and all
Their ways are a pollution’s thrall,
Abomination, uncleanness.
17 They offer sacrifice to dress
The dead and they bow down to pray
To evil spirits, and then they
Eat over the graves, all their works
Are vanity, nothing but shirks.
18 They have no heart to understand,
Their eyes do not see what their grand
Works are, and how they err in saying
To a piece of wood when they’re praying,
‘You are my God,’ And to a stone,
‘You are my Lord and You alone
Are my deliverer.’ [And they
Have no heart.] 19 And as for your way,
My son Jacob, may the Most High
God help you and the God on high
Bless you and remove you from their
Uncleanness and from how they err.
20 Beware, my son Jacob, of taking
A wife from any seed of raking
Daughters of Canaan, for all seed
Of him’s to be rooted indeed
Out of the earth. 21 For, owing to
Transgression of Ham, Canaan too
Erred, and all his seed shall be cut
Off from the earth, his remnant shut
Out, and none springing from him shall
Be saved on day juridical.

Count me, too, my Beloved, in Jacob’s lot,
And not among the Canaanites in plot,
Who stole the land of Shem and then forgot
Your name, but bowed to wood and stone for shame.
Count me, too, in the blessing of those who
Remember to bow to none, only You,
And as my forehead touches ground and dew,
And my lips whisper to You what’s Your due,
Remember me and mine for Jacob’s blessing.
Here I am not alone in my addressing
You with words of praise under morning sky.
The princes and princesses marching by
The generations under mercy’s flame
Still in their light and shadows praise confession.

22 And as for all the worshippers
Of idols and the profaners,
(b) There shall be no hope for them in
The land of the living and bin,
And there shall be no remembrance
Of them on the earth, (c) for they prance
Down into Sheol, (d) and into
The place of condemnation due
They shall go, as the children of
Sodom were taken out from love
Away from the earth, so will all
Those who worship idols in thrall
Be taken away. 23 Fear not, my
Son Jacob, and be not dismayed,
O son of Abraham: Most High
Ælohim preserved you and stayed
From destruction, and from all ways
Of error may He save your days.
24 This house I have built for myself
That I might put my name on shelf
Upon it in the earth: [and it
Is given to you and your fit
Seed for ever], and it will be
Named house of Abraham to see,
It is given to you and to
Your seed for ever, because you
Will build my house and set my name
Before Ælohim for all fame
Forever: your seed and your name
Will stand throughout all ages of
The earth for you and for my love.’
25 And he ceased commanding him and
Blessing him. 26 And the two in band
Lay together on one bed, and
Jacob slept in the bosom of
Abraham, father’s father’s love
And he kissed him seven times, and
His affection and his heart joyed
Over him. 27 And his heart employed
Blessing upon him and he said
‘The Most High Ælohim, the Dread
Of all, and Creator, who brought
Me forth from Ur of the Chaldees
That he might give me this land taught
To inherit all of its trees
For ever, and that I might set
A holy seed, blessèd be yet
The Most High for ever.’ 28 And he
Blessed Jacob and said ‘My son, see,
In whom with all my heart and all
My love I rejoice to install,
May Your grace and Your mercy be
Lifted up on him and to be
On his seed always. 29 And do not
Forsake him, nor set him at naught
From now unto eternity,
30 And may Your eyes be opened on
Him and his seed both night and dawn,
That You preserve him, and bless him,
And sanctify him and make trim
As a nation and for Your heir,
And bless him with all of Your care
In blessings from this day unto
All the days of eternity,
And with him covenant renew,
Your grace with him and his seed be
According to all Your good pleasure
Into all the earth’s ages’ treasure.’

Today when bishops bless they wave a hand
In sign of cross or else pour out a band
Of oil and water on the head to seek
A blessing from You when they fart and peek.
But Abraham in giving best of all
His blessings above kid and calf in stall
Forgets baptisms and the fateful thrall
Of sacrifice and singing at the ball.
Instead he gives Jacob from his own lips
Seven kisses adorned with blessings’ sips.
Beloved, bless me today, not with new gear,
Nor with the honours of the far and near,
Nor with the titles of bishop in fear,
But with Your kisses as my sleep comes near.

JUBILEES 23

1 He placed two fingers of Jacob
Upon his eyes, but not to rub,
And blessed the God of gods, and he
Covered his face and stretched out free
His feet, entered eternity,
Was gathered to his fathers’ fee.
2 But all the while Jacob was lying
In his bosom, and knew not sighing
That Abraham, his father’s father,
Was dead. 3 And Jacob awoke rather
From his sleep, indeed Abraham
Was cold as ice, and he raised gram
And said ‘Father, father’, but there
Was none that spoke, he was aware
That he was dead. 4 And he arose
From his bosom, ran to disclose
To Rebekah, his mother, and
Rebekah went to Isaac’s stand
In the night, and told him, and they
Went together, Jacob as stay,
And holding a lamp in his hand,
And when they had gone in they found
Abraham dead upon the ground.
5 Isaac fell on his father’s face
And wept and kissed him in the place.
6 The voices were heard in the house
Of Abraham, Ishmael to souse
His son arose, and went into
Abraham his father to view,
And wept over his father’s face,
On Abraham, and all the race
Of Abraham wept with a great
Weeping. 7 His sons Isaac and mate
Ishmael buried him in the cave
Doubled, near Sarah his wife, and
They mourned him forty days in band,
All the people of his house, and
Isaac and Ishmael, all their sons,
And all Keturah’s sons in runs,
Till Abraham’s mourning days ended.
8 And he lived three jubilees fended,
And four weeks of years, one hundred
And seventy-five years, to bid
Completion of the days of life,
Being old, full of days, no strife.

Jacob awoke in his grandfather’s bed
And when he woke he found grandfather dead.
Abraham died with Jacob on his breast,
And in that blessing’s pleasure found his rest.
Since then who die die also in that way,
Dying upon the bosom in the sway
Of Abraham, and there they sleep until
The day of judgement shall at last fulfil.
Beloved, though I now find upon Your arm
The place of refuge, where there’s no alarm
From myself and within, nor from without,
Someday I shall with quiet calm or shout
Depart remembrance of Your name to lean
Asleep in Abraham’s bosom serene.

9 For the days of the forefathers,
Of their lives, as it then occurs,
Were nineteen jubilees, but then
After the Flood lifespan of men
Grew less than nineteen jubilees,
And to decrease in jubilees,
And they grew old quickly with ease,
Full of their days by reason of
Many tribulations above,
And for the wickedness of ways,
Except for Abraham in praise.
10 For Abraham was perfect in
All his deeds with YHWH, and no sin,
But well-pleasing in righteousness
All the days of his life confess,
And indeed, he did not complete
Four jubilees in his life’s fleet,
When he had grown old because of
Wickedness, his days full of love.
11 And all the generations which
Shall come from this time to the pitch
Of Judgement day shall not make hitch
But grow old quickly, before they
Complete two jubilees astray,
Their knowledge forsaking them too
By reason of their old age due
[And all their knowledge in the way
Shall vanish]. 12 And then in that day,
If a man live a jubilee
And a half of years as they be,
They’ll say of him ‘He has lived long,
And the greater part of his song
Is pain and sorrow, tribulation,
And there’s no peace for man or nation:
13 Calamity follows on free
Calamity, and wound on wound,
And tribulation’s parity,
And evil tidings on festooned,
And illness on his illness, and
All evil judgements in the land,
One with another, illness and
An overthrow, and snow and frost
And ice, and fever hotly tossed,
And chills, and torpor, famine, death,
And sword, captivity, and breath
Of all kinds of calamities
And pains on pains and without ease.’
14 And all these shall come on and fast
Upon an evil age outcast,
Which transgresses upon the earth:
Their works’ uncleanness with no dearth
Of fornication, and pollution,
Abominations for solution.
15 Then they shall say ‘Forefathers’ days
Were many even, unto praise
Near a thousand years, and were good,
But indeed, the days of our wood
And fodder, if a man has lived
Many, these are three score and sieved
On ten years, and, if he is strong,
Four score years, and evil and wrong,
And there’s no peace upon this age
For its days are wicked on stage.’

Since the Flood evil has killed off the race
At one-tenth of their own allotted pace.
Wickedness pares the years with poisoned dart
And leaves the sodden body by the cart.
Abraham lived to twice the length of men
In his time because, though he had a yen,
In time of trial and temptation then
He obeyed You in his perfection’s light.
Beloved, let me also contrive the right
In what I do, so that the spoil in sight
Upon my life to lead me into death
Come not from my own wickedness in breath.
Let the evil that takes my years away
Be that committed by others’ foul play.

16 And in that generation sons
Shall convict fathers by their tons
And their elders of sin and plot
Unrighteous, and of words unsought
From their mouth and great wickedness
Which they may perpetrate, confess
Forsaking covenant which YHWH
Made between them and Him to do,
That they should observe and do all
His commandments marked on the wall
Both ordinance and all His laws,
Without departing to their paws
On right or left. 17 For all have done
Evil, and each mouth under sun
Speaks in iniquity and all
Their works are uncleanness in stall
And an abomination’s thrall,
And all their ways are pollution,
An uncleanness and destruction.
18 Indeed the earth shall be destroyed
On account of their works employed,
And there shall be no seed of vine,
And no oil, for their works align
In faithlessness, and they shall all
Perish together where they fall,
Beasts and cattle and birds, and all
The fish of the sea, on account
Of children of men in amount.
19 And they shall strive one with another,
The younger with the elder brother,
And the old with the young, the poor
With the rich, the lowly obscure
With the great, and the beggar by
The prince, on account of the high
Law and the covenant, for they
Have forgotten commandment’s sway,
And covenant, and feasts, and day
Of months, and Sabbaths, jubilees,
And all judgments to take their ease.

Forgetting the Sabbath day takes away
From one’s lifetime the eternal in day,
And leaves the soul bereft of rest and peace,
Three score and ten at most, and to release
No joy nor love upon neglectful piece.
I search the calendars of ancient time
To reassure myself I know the clime
When Your days come and when the great sublime
Jubilees hearken to rhythm and rhyme
Of universe. Beloved, let me forget
Not to stay where Your rest is fully met,
And touch my lips to covenant and feast
That rises weekly, yearly in the east
To find the days and years of life increased.

20 And they’ll stand swords and war to turn
Them back into the way they spurn,
But they shall not return until
Much blood has been shed and to fill
The earth, one by another. 21 And
Those who have escaped from the land
Shall not return from wickedness
Into the way of righteousness,
But they shall all exalt themselves
To deceit and to wealth like elves,
That they may each take all that’s his
Neighbour’s without consequences,
And lo they shall name the great name,
But not in truth and in false claim
Of righteousness, and they’ll defile
The holy of holies a while
With their uncleanness and the blot
Of their corruption in the lot
Of their pollution. 22 And a great
Punishment shall befall their fate
For the deeds of this age from YHWH,
And He will give them over to
The sword and to judgement and to
Captivity, and to be plundered
And devoured. 23 And He will unsundered
Wake up against them sinners of
The Gentiles, who have neither love
Nor mercy nor compassion, who
Shall respect the person of none,
Neither old nor young, any one,
For they are more wicked and strong
To do evil and to do wrong
Than all other children of men.
And they shall use violence then
Against Israel and transgression
Against Jacob, and much blood won
Shall be shed upon the earth, and
There shall be none to gather and
None to bury. 24 In those days they
Shall cry aloud, and call and pray
That they may be saved from the hand
Of sinners, Gentiles in the land,
But none shall be saved. 25 And the heads
Of children shall be on their beds
White with grey hair, and a child of
Three weeks shall appear old above
Like a man of one hundred years,
And their stature shall be destroyed
By tribulation and annoyed
By oppression. 26 And in those days
The children shall begin their ways
To study the laws, and to seek
The commandments, and to left cheek
Back to the path of righteousness.
27 And the days shall begin to bless
And increase among those children
Of men till their days draw nigh then
To one thousand years. And to great
Number of years, more than of late
Was the number of days in state.

The reason man would take sword in his hand
Forgetting the Sabbath and Your command,
Is simply that he would acquire the sand
Of gold and silver in his neighbour’s land.
How stupidly the human race collects
What cannot be eaten, and yet neglects
To feed the poor. Beloved, break in my known
And small world with Your brightness and Your throne.
Make me and mine rightly divide the spoil
Of earth to self and others at the toil.
Give me the day of blessing to arise
And find with equity the morning skies
Are tinted with that gold that all may take
In eye and heart and for rejoicing’s sake.

28 And there shall be no old man nor
One who’s satisfied as before
With his days, for all shall be then
As children and youths, and not men.
29 And all their days they shall complete
And live in peace and joy for treat,
And there shall be no Satan nor
Evil destroyer as before,
For all their days shall be as days
Of blessing and healing and praise.
30 And at that time YHWH then will heal
His servants, and they’ll rise and wheel
And see great peace, and drive out their
Enemies. The righteous shall see
And be thankful, and rejoice where
With joy for ever they shall be,
And shall see all their judgments and
All their curses on their foes’ band.
31 And their bones shall rest in the earth,
And their spirits shall have much worth
Of joy, and they shall know it’s YHWH
Who executes the judgement due,
And shows mercy to hundreds and
Thousands, all that love His command.
32 And you, Moses, write down these words,
For thus are they written on sherds,
And they record them on the plates
Celestial where a witness waits
Unto all ages in their states.

All that love Your command receive the joy
Of judgement at Your hand and in employ.
What of those who neglect Your simple word
And treat the ten commandments like a turd?
Have You no blessing to relate on them,
Have You no treasure for their life and gem?
Beloved, I pray for those who wrong the blood,
Who selfishly seek only their own flood,
And live by jungle law, survival of
The fittest who are able without love
To grind down the weaker under the glove
Of iron dispensing justice from the gate
Of Bank of England for the oil in state.
Beloved, I pray for those stuck in the mud.

AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

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