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The Messianic Rule (1QSa=1Q28a)

Edits, corrections and cross references by The Firmament

The Messianic Rule is intended for ‘all the congregation in the last days‘ and it foreshadows the War Rule. It is a Rule for the Community adapted to the requirements of the Messianic war against the nations and it refers to the presence of the Priest and the Messiah of Israel at the Council. The children of Zadok, the priests, form the chief authority in the sect.

This is the Rule for all the congregation of Israel in the last days, when they shall join the Community to walk according to the law of the sons of Zadok the Priests and of the men of their Covenant who have turned aside from the way of the people, the men of His Council who keep His Covenant in the midst of iniquity, offering expiation for the Land.
MR 1:1 “When they come, they shall summon them all, the little children and the women also, and they shall read into their ears the precepts of the Covenant and shall expound to them all their statutes that they may no longer stray in their errors.”

And this is the Rule for all the hosts of the congregation, for every man born in Israel.
MR 2:1 “From his youth they shall instruct him in the Book of Meditation and shall teach him, according to his age, the precepts of the Covenant. He shall be educated in their statutes for ten years…”

MR 2:2 “At the age of twenty years he shall be enrolled, that he may enter upon his allotted duties in the midst of his family (and) be joined to the holy congregation. He shall not approach a woman to know her by lying with her before he is fully twenty years old, when he shall know good and evil. And thereafter, he shall be accepted when he calls to witness the judgements of the Law, and shall be (allowed) to assist at the hearing of judgements.”

MR 2:3 “At the age of twenty‑five years he may take his place among the foundations (i.e. the officials) of the holy congregation to work in the service of the congregation.”

MR 2:4 “At the age of thirty years he may approach to participate in lawsuits and judgements, and may take his place among the chiefs of the Thousands of Israel, the chiefs of the Hundreds, Fifties, and Tens, the Judges and the officers of their tribes, in all their families, under the authority of the sons of Aaron the Priests. And every head of family in the congregation who is chosen to hold office, to go and come before the congregation, shall strengthen his loins that he may perform his tasks among his brethren in accordance with his understanding and the perfection of his way. According to whether this is great or little, so shall one man be honored more than another.”

MR 2:5 “When a man is advanced in years, he shall be given a duty in the service of the congregation in proportion to his strength.”

MR 2:6 “No simpleton shall be chosen to hold office in the congregation of Israel with regard to lawsuits or judgement, nor carry any responsibility in the congregation. Nor shall he hold any office in the war destined to vanquish the nations; his family shall merely inscribe him in the army register and he shall do his service in task‑work in proportion to his capacity.”

MR 2:7 “The sons of Levi shall hold office, each in his place, under the authority of the sons of Aaron. They shall cause all the congregation to go and come, each man in his rank, under the direction of the heads of family of the congregation ‑ the leaders, Judges, and officers, according to the number of all their hosts ‑ under the authority of the sons of Zadok the Priests, and (under the direction) of all the heads of family of the congregation. And when the whole assembly is summoned for judgement, or for a Council of the Community, or for war, they shall sanctify them for three days that every one of its members may be prepared.”

These are the men who shall be called to the Council of the Community…
MR 3:1 “All the wise men of the congregation, the learned and the intelligent, men whose way is perfect and men of ability, together with the tribal chiefs and all the Judges and officers, and the chiefs of the Thousands, Hundreds, Fifties, and Tens, and the Levites, each man in the class of his duty; these are the men of renown, the members of the assembly summoned to the Council of the Community in Israel before the sons of Zadok the Priests.”

MR 3:2 “And no man smitten with any human uncleanness shall enter the assembly of God; no man smitten with any of them shall be confirmed in his office in the congregation. No man smitten in his flesh, or paralyzed in his feet or hands, or lame, or blind, deaf, or dumb, or smitten in his flesh with a visible blemish; old and tottery man unable to stay still in the midst of the congregation; none of these shall come to hold office among the congregation of the men of renown, for the Angels of Holiness are with their congregation. Should one of them have something to say to the Council of Holiness, let him be questioned privately; but let him not enter among the congregation for he is smitten.”

This shall be the assembly of the men of renown called to the meeting of the Council of the Community when the Priest‑Messiah shall summon them
MR 4:1 “When God will have engendered the Priest-Messiah, he shall come at the head of the whole congregation of Israel with all his brethren, the sons of Aaron the Priests, those called to the assembly, the men of renown; and they shall sit before him, each man in the order of his dignity. And then the Messiah of Israel shall come, and the chiefs of the clans of Israel shall sit before him, each in the order of his dignity, according to his place in their camps and marches. And before them shall sit all the heads of family of the congregation, and the wise men of the holy congregation, each in the order of his dignity.

MR 4:2 “And when they shall gather for the common table, to eat and to drink new wine, when the common table shall be set for eating and the new wine poured for drinking, let no man extend his hand over the first‑fruits of bread and wine before the Priest; for it is he who shall bless the first‑fruits of bread and wine, and shall be the first to extend his hand over the bread, and shall be the first to extend his hand over the bread. Thereafter, the Messiah of Israel shall extend his hand over the bread, and all the congregation of the Community shall utter a blessing, each man in the order of his dignity.”

MR 4:3 “It is according to this statute that they shall proceed at every meal at which at least ten men are gathered together.”

The Messianic Rule (1QSa=1Q28a) Read More »

The War Rule (1QM, 4QM)

Dead Sea Scrolls / 40 minutes of reading

Edits, corrections and cross references by The Firmament

This is not a manual of military war, but a spiritual writing, depicting the eternal struggle between the children of Light and the children of Darkness. The phases of it’s battles are fixed in advance, it’s plan established and its duration predetermined. The opposing forces are equally matched and only by the intervention of the ‘Mighty Hand of God’ is the balance between them to be disturbed when He deals an ‘everlasting blow’ to ‘Belial’ (Satan) and all the host of his kingdom.

Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

Chapter 1

For the Master. The Rule of War on the unleashing of the attack of the sons of light against the company of the sons of darkness, the army of Satan: against the band of Edom, Moab, and the sons of Ammon, and against the army of the sons of the East and the Philistines, and against the bans of the Kittim of Assyria and their allies the ungodly of the Covenant.
WR 1:1 “The sons of Levi, Judah, and Benjamin, the exiles in the desert, shall battle against them in… all their bands when the exiled sons of light return from the Desert of the Peoples to camp in the Desert of Jerusalem; and after the battle they shall go up from there to Jerusalem.”

WR 1:2 “The king of the Kittim shall enter into Egypt, and in his time he shall set out in great wrath to wage war against the kings of the north, that his fury may destroy and cut off the horn of Israel.”

WR 1:3 “This shall be a time of salvation for the people of God, an age of dominion for all the members of His company, and of everlasting destruction for all the company of Satan. The confusion of the sons of Japheth shall be great and Assyria shall fall unsuccored. The dominion of the Kittim shall come to an end and iniquity shall be vanquished, leaving no remnant; for the sons of darkness there shall be no escape. The sons of righteousness shall shine over all the ends of the earth; they shall go on shining until all the seasons of darkness are consumed and, at the season appointed by God, His exalted greatness shall shine eternally to the peace, blessing, glory, joy, and long life of all the sons of light.”

WR 1:4 “On the day when the Kittim fall, there shall be battle and terrible carnage before the God of Israel, for that shall be the day appointed from ancient times for the battle of destruction of the sons of darkness. At that time, the assembly of gods and the hosts of men shall battle, causing great carnage; on the day of calamity, the sons of light shall battle with the company of darkness amid the shouts of a mighty multitude and the clamor of gods and men to (make manifest) the might of God. And it shall be a time of great tribulation for the people which God shall redeem; of all its afflictions none shall be as this, from its sudden beginning until its end in eternal redemption.”

WR 1:5 “On the day of their battle against the Kittim they shall set out for carnage. In three lots shall the sons of light brace themselves in battle to strike down iniquity, and in three lots shall Satan’s host gird itself to thrust back the company of God. And when the hearts of the detachments of foot-soldiers faint, then shall the might of God fortify the hearts of the sons of light. And with the seventh lot, the mighty hand of God shall bring down the army of Satan, and all the angels of his kingdom, and all the members of his company in everlasting destruction. . .”

WR 1:6 “. . . The priests, the Levites and the heads of the tribes . . . the priests as well as the Levites and the divisions of the fifty-two heads of family of the congregation.”

WR 1:7 “They shall rank the chief Priests below the High Priest and his vicar. And the twelve chief Priests shall minister at the daily sacrifice before God, whereas the twenty-six leaders of the priestly divisions shall minister in their divisions.”

WR 1:8 “Below them, in perpetual ministry, shall be the chiefs of the Levites to the number of twelve, one for each tribe. The leaders of their divisions shall minister each in his place.”

WR 1:9 “Below them shall be the chiefs of the tribes together with the heads of family of the congregation. They shall attend daily at the gates of the Sanctuary, whereas the leaders of their division with their numbered men, shall attend at their appointed times on new moons and on Sabbaths and on all the days of the year, their age being fifty years and over.”

WR 1:10 These are the men who shall attend at holocausts and sacrifices to prepare sweet-smelling incense for the good pleasure of God to atone for all His congregation, and to satisfy themselves perpetually before Him at the table of glory. They shall arrange all these things during the season of the year of Release.”

WR 1:11 “During the remaining thirty-three years of the war, the men of renown, those summoned to the Assembly, together with all the heads of family of the congregation, shall choose for themselves fighting men for all the lands of the nations. They shall arm for themselves warriors from all the tribes of Israel to enter the army year by year when they are summoned to war. But they shall arm no man for entry into the army during the years of Release, for they are Sabbaths of rest for Israel. In the thirty-five years of service, the war shall be fought during six; the whole congregation shall fight it together.”

WR 1:12 “And during the remaining twenty-nine years the war shall be divided. During the first year they shall fight against Aram Naharaim; during the second, against the sons of Lud; during the third, against the remnant of the sons of Aram, against Uz and Hul and Togar and Mesha beyond the Euphrates; during the fourth and fifth, they shall fight against the sons of Arphakshad; during the sixth and seventh, against all the sons of Assyria and Persia and the East as far as the Great Desert; during the eighth year they shall fight against the sons of Elam; during the ninth, against the sons of Ishmael and Keturah. In the ten years which follow, the war shall be divided against all the sons of Ham according to their clans and in their habitations; and during the ten years which remain, the war shall be divided against all the sons of Japheth in their habitations.”

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Chapter 2

The Rule for the trumpets of Summons and the trumpets of Alarm according to all their duties
WR 2:1 “. . . the trumpets of Summons shall sound for disposal in battle formations and to summon the foot-soldiers to advance when the gates of war shall open; and the trumpets of Alarm shall sound for massacre, and for ambush, and for pursuit when the enemy shall be smitten, and for retreat from battle.”

WR 2:2 “On the trumpets calling the congregation they shall write, The Called of God.”

WR 2:3 “On the trumpets calling the chiefs they shall write, The Princes of God.”

WR 2:4 “On the trumpets of the levies they shall write, The Army of God.”

WR 2:5 “On the trumpets of the men of renown and of the heads of family of the congregation gathered in the house of Assembly they shall write, Summoned by God to the Council of Holiness.”

WR 2:6 “On the trumpets of the camps they shall write, The Peace of God in the Camps of His Saints.”

WR 2:7 “And on the trumpets for breaking camp they shall write, The mighty Deeds of God shall crush the Enemy, putting to Flight all those who hate Righteousness and bringing Shame on those who hate Him.”

WR 2:8 “On the trumpets for battle formations they shall write, Formations of the Divisions of God for the Vengeance of His Wrath on the Sons of Darkness.”

WR 2:9 “On the trumpets summoning the foot-soldiers to advance towards the enemy formations when the gates of war are opened they shall write, Reminder of Vengeance in God’s Appointed Time.”

WR 2:10 “On the trumpets of massacre they shall write, The mighty Hand of God in War shall cause all the ungodly Slain to fall.”

WR 2:11 “On the trumpets of ambush they shall write, The Mysteries of God shall undo Wickedness.”

WR 2:12 “On the trumpets of pursuit they shall write. God has smitten all the Sons of Darkness; His Fury shall not end until they are utterly consumed.”

WR 2:13 “On the trumpets of retreat, when they retreat from battle to the formation, they shall write, God has reassembled.”

WR 2:14 “On the trumpets of return from battle against the enemy when they journey to the congregation in Jerusalem they shall write, Rejoicings of God in the peaceful Return.”

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Chapter 3

The Rule for the standards of the whole congregation according to their levies
WR 3:1 “On the great standard at the head of the people they shall write, The People of God, together with the names of Israel and Aaron, and the names of the twelve tribes of Israel according to the order of their precedence.”

WR 3:2 “On the standards of the camp columns formed by three tribes they shall write, . . . of God, together with the name of the leader of the camp . . .”

WR 3:3 “On the standard of the tribe they shall write, Banner of God, together with the name of the leader of the tribe and the names of the chiefs of its clans.”

WR 3:4 “On the standard of the Myriad they shall write, . . . of God, together with the name of the chief of the Myriad and the names of the leaders of its Thousands.”

WR 3:5 “On the standard of the Thousand they shall write, . . . of God, together with the name of the chief of the Thousand and the names of the leaders of its Hundreds.”

WR 3:6 “On the standard of Hundred . . .”

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Chapter 4

WR 4:1 “On the standard of Merari they shall write, The Votive Offering of God, together with the name of the chief of Merari and the names of the leaders of its Thousands.”

WR 4:2 “On the standard of the Thousand they shall write, The Wrath of God is kindled against Satan and against the Men of his Company, leaving no Remnant, together with the name of the chief of the Thousand and the names of the leaders of its Hundreds.”

WR 4:3 “On the standard of the Hundred they shall write, From God comes the Might of War against all sinful Flesh, together with the name of the chief of the Hundred and the names of the leaders of its Fifties.”

WR 4:4 “On the standard of the Fifty they shall write, The Stand of the ungodly is ended by the Power of God, together with the name of the chief of the Fifty and the names of the leaders of its Tens.”

WR 4:5 “On the standard of the Ten they shall write, Praised be God on the ten-stringed Harp, together with the name of the chief of the Ten and the names of the nine men under his command.”

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Chapter 5

WR 5:1 “When they march out to battle they shall write on their standards, Truth of God, Justice of God, Glory of God, Judgement of
God, followed by the whole ordered list of their names.”

WR 5:2 “When they approach for battle they shall write on their standards, Right Hand of God, Appointed Time of God, Tumult of God, Slain of God, followed by the whole list of their names.”

WR 5:3 “When they return from battle they shall write on their standards, Honor of God, Majesty of God, Splendor of God, Glory of God, together with the whole list of their names.”

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Chapter 6

The Rule for the standards of the congregation
WR 6:1 “When they set out for battle they shall write, on the first standard Congregation of God, on the second standard Camps of God, on the third standard Tribes of God, on the fourth standard Clans of God, on the fifth standard Divisions of God, on the sixth standard Assembly of God, on the seventh standard The Called of God, on the eighth standard Hosts of God; and they shall write the list of their names with all their order.”

WR 6:2 “When they approach for battle they shall write on their standards, War of God, Vengeance of God, Trial of God, Reward of God, Power of God, Retributions of God, Might of God, Extermination of God for all the Nations of Vanity; and they shall write on them the whole list of their names.”

WR 6:3 “When they return from battle they shall write on their standards, Salvation of God, Victory of God, Help of God, Support of God, Joy of God, Thanksgivings of God, Praise of God, Peace of God.”

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Chapter 7

WR 7:1 “The measurements of the standards. The standard of the whole congregation shall be fourteen cubits long; the standard of the three tribes, thirteen cubits long; the standard of the tribe, twelve cubits; the standard of the Myriad, eleven cubits; the standard of the Thousand, ten cubits; the standard of the Hundred, nine cubits; the standard of the Fifty, eight cubits; the standard of the Ten, seven cubits . . .”

WR 7:2 “And on the shield of the Prince of all the congregation shall write his name, together with the names of Israel, Levi and Aaron, and the names of the twelve tribes of Israel according to the order of their precedence, with the names of their twelve chiefs.”

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Chapter 8

The Rule for the ordering of the battle divisions to complete a front formation when their host has reached its full number
WR 8:1 “The formation shall consist of one thousand men ranked seven lines deep, each man standing behind the other.”

WR 8:2 “They shall all hold shields of bronze burnished like mirrors. The shield shall be edged with an interlaced border and inlaid ornament, a work of art in pure gold and silver and bronze and precious stones, a many-colored design worked by a craftsman. The length of the shield shall be two and a half cubits and its width one and a half cubits.”

WR 8:3 “In their hands they shall hold a spear and a sword. The length of the spear shall be seven cubits, of which the socket and spike shall measure half a cubit. The socket shall be edged with three embossed interlaced rings of pure gold and silver and bronze, a work of art. The inlaid ornaments on both edges of the ring shall be bordered with precious stones – patterned bands worked by a craftsman – and (embossed) with ears of corn. Between the rings, the socket shall be embossed with artistry like a pillar. The spike shall be made of brilliant white iron, the work of a craftsman; in its center, pointing towards the tip, shall be ears of corn in pure gold.”

WR 8:4 “The swords shall be made of pure iron refined by the smelter and blanched to resemble a mirror, the work of a craftsman; on both sides (of their blades) pointing towards the tip, figured ears of corn shall be embossed in pure gold, and they shall have two straight borders on each side. The length of the sword shall be one and a half cubits and its width four fingers. The width of the scabbard shall be four thumbs. There shall be four palms to the scabbard (from the girdle), and it shall be attached (to the girdle) on both sides for a length of five palms (?). The hilt of the sword shall be of pure horn worked by a craftsman, with pattern bands in gold and silver and precious stones. . .”
vacat.

WR 8:5 “When … shall stand, the … they shall order the seven battle divisions, division after division … thirty cubits where the men of the division shall stand. . .”

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Chapter 9

WR 9:1 “…seven times and shall return to their positions.”

WR 9:2 “And after them, three divisions of foot-soldiers shall advance and shall station themselves between the formations, and the first division shall hurl seven javelins of war towards the enemy formation. On the point of the javelins they shall write, Shining Javelin of the Power of God; and on the darts of the second division they shall write, Bloody Spikes to bring down the Slain by the Wrath of God; and on the javelins of the third division they shall write, Flaming Blade to devour the Wicked struck down by the Judgement of God. All these shall hurl their javelins seven times and shall afterwards return to their positions.”

WR 9:3 “Then two divisions of foot-soldiers shall advance and shall station themselves between the two formations. The first division shall be armed with a spear and a shield, and the second with a shield and a sword, to bring down the slain by the judgement of God, and to bend the enemy formation by the power of God, to pay the reward of their wickedness to all the nations of vanity. And sovereignty shall be to the God of Israel, and He shall accomplish
mighty deeds by the saints of his people.”

WR 9:4 “Seven troops of horsemen shall also station themselves to right and to left of the formation; their troops shall stand on this (side) and on that, seven hundred horsemen on one flank and seven hundred horsemen on the other. Two hundred horsemen shall advance with the thousand men of the formation of foot-soldiers; and they shall likewise station themselves on both flanks of the camp. Altogether there shall be four thousand six hundred (men), and one thousand cavalrymen with the men of the army formations, fifty to each formation. The horsemen, together with the cavalry of the army, shall number six thousand: five hundred to each tribe.”

WR 9:5 “The horses advancing into battle with the foot-soldiers shall all be stallions; they shall be swift, sensitive of mouth, and sound of wind, and of the required age, trained for war, and accustomed to noise and to every (kind of) sight. Their riders shall be gallant fighting men and skilled horsemen, and their age shall be from thirty to forty-five years. The horsemen of the army shall be from forty to fifty years old. They and their mounts shall wear breast-plates, helmets, and greaves; they shall carry in their hands bucklers, and a spear eight cubits long. The horsemen advancing with the foot soldiers shall carry bows and arrows and javelins of war. They shall all hold themselves prepared… of God and to spill the blood of the wicked …”

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Chapter 10

WR 10:1 “The men of the army shall be from forty to fifty years old. The inspectors of the camps shall be from fifty to sixty year old. The officers shall be from forty to fifty years old.”

WR 10:2 “The despoilers of the slain, the plunderers of booty, the cleansers of the land, the keepers of the baggage, and those who furnish the provisions shall be from twenty-five to thirty years old.”

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Chapter 11

WR 11:1 “No boy or woman shall enter their camps, from the time they leave Jerusalem and march out to war until they return. No man who is lame, or blind, or crippled, or afflicted with a lasting bodily blemish, or smitten with a bodily impurity, none of these shall march out to war with them. They shall all be freely enlisted for war, perfect in spirit and body and prepared for the Day of Vengeance. And no man shall go down with them on the day of battle who is impure because of his ‘fount’, for the holy angels shall be with their hosts. And there shall be a space of about two thousand cubits between all their camps for the place serving as a latrine, so that no indecent nakedness may be seen in the surroundings of their camps.”

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Chapter 12

WR 12:1 “When the battle formations are marshaled facing the enemy, formation facing formation, seven Priests of the sons of Aaron; shall advance from the middle gates to the place between the formations. They shall be clothed in vestments of white cloth of flax, in a fine linen tunic and fine linen breeches; and they shall be girdled with fine cloth of flax embroidered with blue, purple and scarlet thread, a many-colored design worked by a craftsman. And on their heads they shall wear mitered turbans. These shall be battle raiment; they shall not take them into the Sanctuary.”

WR 12:2 “The first Priest shall advance before the men of the formation to strengthen their hand for battle, and the six other Priests shall hold in their hands the trumpets of Summons, and the trumpets of the Reminder, and the trumpets of Alarm (for massacre), and the trumpets of Pursuit, and the trumpets of Retreat. And when the Priests advance to the place between the formations, seven Levites shall accompany them bearing in their hands seven rams’ horns; and three officers of the Levites shall walk before the Priests and Levites. The Priests shall sound the two trumpets of Summons for the gates of war to open fifty shields (wide) and the foot-soldiers shall advance, fifty from one gate and fifty from the other. With them shall advance the officers of the Levites, and they shall advance with every formation according to all this Rule.”

WR 12:3 “The Priests shall sound the trumpets, and two divisions of foot soldiers shall advance from the gate and shall station themselves between the two formations… the trumpets shall sound to direct the slingers until they have cast seven times. Afterwards, the Priests shall sound for them the trumpets of Retreat and they shall return to the flank of the first formation to take up their position.”

WR 12:4 “Then the Priests shall sound the trumpets of Summons and three divisions of foot-soldiers shall advance from the gates and shall station themselves between the formations; the horsemen shall be on their flanks, to right and to left. The Priests shall sound a sustained blast on the trumpets for battle array, and the columns shall move to their battle array, each man to his place. And when they have taken up their stand in three arrays, the Priests shall sound a second signal, soft and sustained, for them to advance until they are close to the enemy formation. They shall seize their weapons, and the Priests shall then blow a shrill staccato blast on the six trumpets of Massacre to direct the battle, and the Levites and all the blowers of rams’ horns shall sound a mighty alarm to terrify the heart of the enemy, and therewith the javelins shall fly out to bring down the slain. Then the sound of the horns shall cease, but the Priests shall continue to blow a shrill staccato blast on the trumpets to direct the battle until they have thrown seven times against the enemy formation. And then they shall sound a soft, a sustained, and a shrill sound on the trumpets of Retreat.”

WR 12:5 “It is according to this Rule that the Priests shall sound the trumpets for the three divisions. With the first throw, the Priests shall sound on the trumpets a mighty alarm to direct the battle until they have thrown seven times. Then the Priests shall sound for them on the trumpets of Retreat a soft, sustained, and a shrill sound, and they shall return to their positions in the formation.”

WR 12:6 “Then the Priests shall blow the trumpets of Summons and the two divisions of foot-soldiers shall advance from the gates and shall stand between the formations. And the Priests shall then blow the trumpets of Massacre, and the Levites and all the blowers of rams’ horns shall sound an alarm, a mighty blast, and therewith, they shall set about to bring down the slain with their hands. All the people shall cease their clamor but the Priest shall continue to blow the trumpets of Massacre to direct the battle until the enemy is smitten and put to flight; and the Priests shall blow to direct the battle.”

WR 12:7 “And when they are smitten before them, the Priests shall sound the trumpets of Summons and all the foot-soldiers shall rally to them from the midst of the front formations, and the six divisions, together with the fighting division, shall take up their stations. Altogether, they shall be seven formations: twenty-eight thousand fighting men and six thousand horsemen.”

WR 12:8 “All these shall pursue the enemy to destroy him in an everlasting destruction in the battle of God. The Priests shall sound for them the trumpets of Pursuit, and they shall deploy against all the enemy in a pursuit to destruction; and the horsemen shall thrust them back on the flanks of the battle until they are utterly destroyed.”

WR 12:9 “And as the slain men fall, the Priests shall trumpet from afar; they shall not approach the slain lest they be defiled with unclean blood. For they are holy, and they shall not profane the anointing of their priesthood with the blood of nations of vanity.”

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Chapter 13

The Rule for changes in battle order to form the position of a square with towers, a concave line with towers, a convex line with towers, a shallow convex line obtained by the advance of the center, or by the advance of both flanks to terrify the enemy
WR 13:1 “The shields of the towers shall be three cubits long and their spears eight cubits. The tower shall advance from the formation and shall have one hundred shields to each side; in this manner, the tower shall be surrounded on three sides by three hundred shields. And it shall also have two gates, one to the right and one to the left.”

WR 13:2 “They shall write on all the shields of the towers: on the first, Michael, on the second, Gabriel, on the third, Sariel, and on the fourth, Raphael. Michael and Gabriel shall stand on the right, and Sariel and Raphael on the left… they shall set an ambush to…”

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Chapter 14

WR 14:1 “. . . our camps and to keep us from all that is indecent and evil.”

WR 14:2 “Furthermore, (Moses) taught us, ‘You are in the midst of us, a mighty God and awesome, causing all our enemies to flee before us.’ He taught our generations in former times saying, ‘When you draw near to battle, the Priest shall rise and speak to the people saying, “Hear, O Israel! You draw near to battle this day against your enemies. Do not fear! Do not let your hearts be afraid! Do not be terrified, and have no fear! For your God goes with you to fight for you against your enemies that He may deliver you”’ (Deut 20:2 4).

WR 14:3 “Our officers shall speak to all those prepared for battle. They shall strengthen by the power of God the freely devoted of heart, and shall make all the fearful of heart withdraw; they shall fortify all the mighty men of war. They shall recount that which You said through Moses: ‘When you go to war in your land against the oppressor who oppresses you, you shall blow the trumpets, and you shall be remembered before your God and shall be saved from your enemies.” (Num 10:9)

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Chapter 15

WR 15:1 “O God of Israel, who is like You
in heaven or on earth?
Who accomplishes deeds and mighty works like Yours?
Who is like Your people Israel
which You have chosen for Yourself
from all the peoples of the lands;
the people of the saints of the Covenant,
instructed in the laws
and learned in wisdom …
who have heard the voice of Majesty
and have seen the Angels of Holiness,
whose ear has been unstopped,
and who have heard profound things?”

WR 15:2 “You, O God, have created the expanse of the heavens
and the host of heavenly lights,
the tasks of the spirits
and the dominion of the Holy Ones,
the treasury of glory
and the canopy of the clouds.
You are Creator of the earth
and of the laws dividing it into desert and grassland;
of all that it brings forth
and of all its fruits according to their kinds;
of the circle of the seas
and of the gathering-place of the rivers
and of the divisions of the deeps;
of the beasts and birds
and of the shape of Adam
and of the generations of his seed;
of the confusion of tongues
and of the scattering of the peoples,
of the dwelling in clans
and of the inheritance of lands;
… of the sacred seasons
and of the cycles of the years
and of time everlasting.”

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Chapter 16

WR 16:1 “Truly, the battle is Yours! Their bodies are crushed by the might of Your hand and there is no man to bury them.”

WR 16:2 “You did deliver Goliath of Gath, the mighty warrior, into the hands of David, Your servant, because in place of the sword, and in place of the spear he put his trust in Your great Name; for Yours is the battle. Many times, by Your great Name, did he triumph over the Philistines. Many times have You also delivered us by the hand of our kings through Your lovingkindness, and not in accordance with our works by which we have done evil, nor according to our rebellious deeds.”

WR 16:3 “Truly the battle is Yours and the power from You! It is not ours. Our strength and the power of our hands accomplish no mighty deeds except by Your power and by the might of Your great valor. This You have taught us from ancient times, saying, A star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel. He shall smite the temples of Moab and destroy all the children of Sheth. He shall rule out of Jacob and shall cause the survivors of the city to perish. The enemy shall be his possession and Israel shall accomplish mighty deeds.” (Num 24:17 19)

WR 16:4 “By the hand of Your anointed, who discerned Your testimonies, You have revealed to us the times of the battles of Your hands that You may glorify Yourself in our enemies by leveling the hordes of Satan, the seven nations of vanity, by the hand of Your poor whom You have redeemed by Your might and by the fullness of Your marvelous power. (You have opened) the door of hope to the melting heart: You will do to them as You did to Pharaoh, and to the captains of his chariots in the Red Sea. You will kindle the downcast of spirit and they shall be a flaming torch in the straw to consume ungodliness and never to cease till iniquity is destroyed.”

WR 16:5 “From ancient times You have foretold the hour when the might of Your hand (would be raised) against the Kittim, saying, Assyria shall fall by the sword of no man, the sword of no mere man shall devour him (Isa 31:8). For You will deliver into the hands of the poor the enemies from all the lands, to humble the mighty of the peoples by the hand of those bent to the dust, to bring upon the head of Your enemies the reward of the wicked, and to justify Your true judgement in the midst of all the sons of men, and to make for Yourself an everlasting Name among the people whom You have redeemed. . . of battles to be magnified and sanctified in the eyes of the remnant of the peoples, that they may know. . . when You chastise Gog and all his assembly gathered about him. . .”

WR 16:6 “For You will fight with them from heaven… For the multitude of the Holy Ones is with You in heaven, and the host of the Angels is in Your holy abode, praising Your Name. And You have established in a community for Yourself the elect of Your holy people. The list of the names of all their host is with You in the abode of Your holiness; the reckoning of the saints is in Your glorious dwelling place. You have recorded for them, with the graving-tool of life, the favors of Your blessings and the Covenant of Your peace, that You may reign over them for ever and ever and throughout all the eternal ages. You will muster the hosts of Your elect, in their Thousands and Myriads, with Your Holy Ones and with all Your Angels, that they may be mighty in battle, and may smite the rebels of the earth by Your great judgements, and that they may triumph together with the elect of heaven.”

WR 16:7 “For You are awesome, O God, in the glory of Your kingdom, and the congregation of Your Holy Ones is among us for everlasting succor. We will despise kings, we will mock and scorn the mighty; for our Lord is holy, and the King of Glory is with us together with the Holy Ones. Valiant warriors of the angelic host are among our numbered men, and the Hero of war is with our congregation; the host of His spirits is with our foot-soldiers and horsemen. They are as clouds, as clouds of dew covering the earth, as a shower of rain shedding righteousness on all that grows on the earth.”

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Chapter 17

WR 17:1 “Rise up, O Hero!,
Lead off Your captives, O Glorious One!
Gather up Your spoils,
O Author of mighty deeds!
Lay Your hand on the neck of Your enemies
and Your feet on the pile of the slain!
Smite the nations, Your adversaries,
and devour the flesh of the sinner with Your sword!
Fill Your land with glory
and Your inheritance with blessing!
Let there be a multitude of cattle in Your fields,
and in Your palaces silver and gold and precious stones!”

WR 17:2 “O Zion, rejoice greatly!
O Jerusalem, show yourself amidst jubilation!
Rejoice, all you cities of Judah;
keep your gates ever open
that the hosts of the nations
may be brought in!”

WR 17:3 “Their kings shall serve you
and all your oppressors shall bow down before you;
they shall lick the dust of your feet.
Shout for joy, O daughters of my people!
Deck yourselves with glorious jewels
and rule over the kingdoms of the nations!
Sovereignty shall be to the Lord
and everlasting dominion to Israel.”

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Chapter 18

WR 18:1 “. . . (The High Priest) shall come, and his brethren the priests and the Levites, and all the elders of the army shall be with him; and standing, they shall bless the God of Israel and all His works of truth, and shall execrate Satan there and all the spirits of his company. Speaking, they shall say:”

WR 18:2 “Blessed be the God of Israel for all His holy purpose and for His works of truth! Blessed be all those who serve Him in
righteousness and who know Him by faith!”

WR 18:3 “Cursed be Satan for his sinful purpose and may he be execrated for his wicked rule! Cursed be all the spirits of his company for their ungodly purpose and may they be execrated for all the service of uncleanness! Truly they are the company of Darkness but the company of God is one of eternal Light.”

WR 18:4 “You are the God of our fathers; we bless/praise Your Name for ever. We are the people of Your inheritance; You did make a Covenant with our fathers, and will establish it with their children throughout eternal ages. And in all Your glorious testimonies there has been a reminder of Your mercies among us to succor the remnant, the survivors of Your Covenant, that they might recount Your works of truth and the judgements of Your marvelous mighty deeds.”

WR 18:5 “You have created us for Yourself, O God, that we may be an everlasting people. You have decreed for us a destiny of Light
according to Your truth. And the Prince of Light You have appointed from ancient times to come to out support; all the sons of righteousness are in his hand, and all the spirits of truth are under his dominion. But Satan, the Angel of Malevolence, You have created for the Pit; his rule is in Darkness and his purpose is to bring about wickedness and iniquity. All the spirits of his company, the Angels of Destruction, walk according to the precepts of Darkness; towards them is their inclination.”

WR 18:6 “But let us, the company of Your truth, rejoice in Your mighty hand and be glad for Your salvation, and exult because of Your Succor and peace. O God of Israel, who can compare with You in might? Your mighty hand is with the poor. Which angel or prince can compare with Your redeeming succor? For You have appointed the day of battle from ancient times…to come to the aid of truth and to destroy iniquity, to bring Darkness low and to magnify Light… to stand for ever, and to destroy all the sons of Darkness…”

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Chapter 19

WR 19:1 “. . . like the fire of His wrath against the idols of Egypt. And when they have risen from the slain to return to the camp they shall all sing the Psalm of Return. And in the morning, they shall wash their garments, and shall cleanse themselves of the blood of the bodies of the ungodly. And they shall return to the
positions in which they stood in battle formation before the fall of the enemy slain, and there they shall all bless the God of Israel. Rejoicing together, they shall praise His Name, and speaking they shall say:”

WR 19:2 “Blessed be the God of Israel
who keeps mercy towards His Covenant,
and the appointed times of salvation
with the people He has delivered!

WR 19:3 He has called them that staggered
to marvelous mighty deeds,
and has gathered in the assembly of the nations
to destruction without any remnant.
He has lifted up in judgement the fearful of heart
and has opened the mouth of the dumb
that they might praise the mighty works of God.
He has taught war to the hand of the feeble
and steadied the trembling knee;
he has braced the back of the smitten
Among the poor in spirit there is power
over the hard of heart,
and by the perfect of way
all the nations of wickedness have come to an end:
not one of their mighty men stands,
but we are the remnant of Your people.”

WR 19:4 “Blessed be Your Name, O God of mercies,
who has kept the Covenant with our fathers.
In all our generations You have bestowed
Your wonderful favors on the remnant of Your people
under the dominion of Satan.
During all the mysteries of his Malevolence
he has not made us stray from Your Covenant;
You have driven his spirits of destruction
far from us,
You have preserved the soul of Your redeemed
when the men of his dominion acted wickedly.
You have raised the fallen by Your strength,
but have cut down the great in height
and have brought down the lofty.
There is no rescue for all their mighty men
and no refuge for their swift men;
You give to their honored men a reward of shame,
all their empty existence have You turned to nothing.”

WR 19:5 “But we, Your holy people, will praise Your Name
because of the works of Your truth.
We will exalt Your splendor because of Your mighty deeds
in all the seasons and appointed times for ever,
at the coming of day and at nightfall
and at the departure of evening and morning.
For great is the design of Your glory
and of Your wonderful mysteries on high
that You should raise up dust before You
and lay low the gods.”

WR 19:6 Rise up, rise up, O God of gods,
raise Yourself in might!
May all the sons of Darkness scatter before You!
The light of Your greatness shall shine forth
on ‘gods’ and men.
It shall be like a fire burning
in the dark places of perdition;
it shall burn the sinners in the perdition of hell,
in an eternal blaze
. . . in all the eternal seasons.”

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Chapter 20

WR 20:1 “They shall recite there all the war hymns. Afterwards they shall return to their camps…”

WR 20:2 “For this shall be a time of distress for Israel, and of the summons to war against all the nations. There shall be eternal deliverance for the company of God, but destruction for all the nations of wickedness.”

WR 20:3 “All those who are ready for battle shall march out and shall pitch their camp before the king of the Kittim and before all the host of Satan gathered about him for the Day of Revenge by the Sword of God.”

WR 20:4 “Then the High Priest shall rise, with the Priests, his brethren, and the Levites, and all the men of the army, and he shall recite aloud the Prayer in Time of War (written in the book) of the Rule concerning this time, and also all their Hymns. He shall marshal all the formations there, as is written in the Book of War, and the priest appointed for the Day of Revenge by the voice of all his brethren shall go forward to strengthen the hearts of the fighting men. Speaking, he shall say:”

WR 20:5 “Be strong and valiant; be warriors! Fear not! Do not be confused and do not let your hearts be afraid! Do not be fearful; fear them not! Do not fall back… for they are a congregation of wickedness and all their works are in Darkness; they tend toward Darkness. They make for themselves a refuge in falsehood and their power shall vanish like smoke. All the multitudes of their community … shall not be found. Damned as they are, all the substance of their wickedness shall quickly fade, like a flower in the summer-time.”

WR 20:6 “Be brave and strong for the battle of God! For this day is the time of the battle of God against all the host of Satan, and of the judgement of all flesh. The God of Israel lifts His hand in His marvelous might against all the spirits of wickedness. The hosts of the warrior ‘gods’ gird themselves for battle, and the formations of the Holy Ones prepare themselves for the Day of Revenge… For the God of Israel has called out the sword against all the nations, and He will do mighty deeds by the saints of His people.”

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Chapter 21

And they shall obey an this Rule on the day when they stand before the camps of the Kittim
WR 21:1 “The Priests shall afterwards sound for them the trumpets of the Reminder, and the gates of war shall open; the foot-soldiers shall advance and the columns shall station themselves between the formations. The Priests shall sound for them the signal, ‘Battle Array’, and at the sound of the trumpets the columns shall deploy until every man is in his place. The Priests shall then sound a second signal for them to advance, and when they are within throwing distance of the formation of the Kittim, each man shall seize his weapon of war. Then the six Priests shall blow on the trumpets of Massacre a shrill staccato blast to direct the battle, and the Levites and all the blowers of rams’ horns shall sound a battle alarm, a mighty clamor; and with this clamor they shall begin to bring down the slain from among the Kittim. All the people shall cease their clamor, but the Priests shall continue to sound the trumpets of Massacre, and battle shall be fought against the Kittim. And when Satan girds himself to come to the aid of the sons of darkness, and when the slain among the foot-soldiers begin to fall by the mysteries of God, and when all the men appointed for battle are put to ordeal by them, the Priests shall sound the trumpets of Summons for another formation of the reserve to advance into battle; and they shall take up their stand between the formations. And for those engaged in battle they shall sound the ‘Retreat’.”

WR 21:2 “Then the High Priest shall draw near, and standing before the formation, he shall strengthen by the power of God their hearts and hands in His battle. Speaking he shall say:”

WR 21:3 “. . . He will pay their reward with burning fire by the hand of those tested in the crucible. He will sharpen His weapons and will not tire until all the wicked nations are destroyed. Remember the judgement of Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aaron, by whose judgement God showed Himself holy in the eyes of Israel. But Eleazar and Ithamar He confirmed in an everlasting priestly Covenant.”

WR 21:4 “Be strong and fear not; for they tend towards chaos and confusion, and they lean on that which is not and shall not be. To the God of Israel belongs all that is and shall be; He knows all the happenings of eternity. This is the day appointed by Him for the defeat and overthrow of the Prince of the kingdom of wickedness, and He will send eternal succor to the company of His redeemed by the might of the princely Angel of the kingdom of Michael. With everlasting light He will enlighten with joy the children of Israel; peace and blessing shall be with the company of God. He will raise up the kingdom of Michael in the midst of the gods, and the realm of Israel in the midst of all flesh. Righteousness shall rejoice on high, and all the children of His truth shall jubilate in eternal knowledge.”

WR 21:5 “And you, the sons of His Covenant, be strong in the ordeal of God! His mysteries shall uphold you until He moves His hand for His trials to come to an end.”

WR 21:6 “After these words, the Priests shall sound to marshal them into the divisions of the formation; and at the sound of the trumpets the columns shall deploy until every man is in his place. Then the Priests shall sound a second signal on the trumpets for them to advance, and when the foot-soldiers approach throwing distance of the formation of the Kittim, every man shall seize his weapon of war. The Priests shall blow the trumpets of Massacre, and the Levites and all the blowers of rams’ horns shall sound a battle alarm, and the foot-soldiers shall stretch out their hands against the host of the Kittim; and at the sound of the alarm they shall begin to bring down the slain. All the people shall cease their clamor, but the Priests shall continue to blow the trumpets of Massacre and battle shall be fought against the Kittim.”

WR 21:7 “. . . and in the third lot. . . that the slain may fall by the mysteries of God. . .”

WR 21:8 “In the seventh lot when the great hand of God is raised in an everlasting blow against Satan and all the hosts of his kingdom, and when Assyria is pursued amidst the shouts of Angels and the clamor of the Holy Ones, the sons of Japheth shall fall to rise no more. The Kittim shall be crushed without remnant, and no man shall be saved from among them.”

WR 21:9 “At that time, on the day when the hand of the God of Israel is raised against all the multitude of Satan, the Priests shall blow the six trumpets of the Reminder and all the battle formations shall rally to them and shall divide against all the camps of the Kittim to destroy them utterly. And as the sun speeds to its setting on that day, the High Priest shall stand, together with the Levites who are with him and the tribal chiefs and the elders of the army, and they shall bless the God of Israel there. Speaking they shall say:”

WR 21:10 “Blessed be Your Name, O God of gods, for You have worked great marvels with Your people! You have kept Your Covenant with us from of old, and have opened to us the gates of salvation many times. For the sake of Your Covenant You have removed our misery, in accordance with Your goodness towards us. You have acted for the sake of Your Name, O God of righteousness… You have worked a marvelous miracle for us, and from ancient times there never was anything like it. For You did know the time appointed for us and it has appeared before us this day… You have shown us Your merciful hand in everlasting redemption by causing the dominion of the enemy to fall back for ever. You have shown us Your mighty hand in a stroke of destruction in the war against all our enemies.”

WR 21:11 “And now the day speeds us to the pursuit of their multitude … You have delivered up the hearts of the brave so that they stand no more.”

WR 21:12 “For Yours is the power, and the battle is in Your hands!. . . For our Sovereign is holy and the King of Glory is with us; the host of his spirits is with our foot-soldiers and horsemen. They are as clouds, as clouds of dew covering the earth, and as a shower of rain shedding righteousness on all that grows there.”

WR 21:13 “Rise up, O Hero!
Lead off Your captives, O Glorious One!
Gather up Your spoils, O Author of mighty deeds!
Lay Your hand on the neck of Your enemies
and Your feet on the pile of the slain!
Smite the nations, Your adversaries,
and devour flesh with Your sword!
Fill Your land with glory
and Your inheritance with blessing!
Let there be a multitude of cattle in Your fields,
and in Your palaces
silver and gold and precious stones!

WR 21:14 “O Zion, rejoice greatly!
Rejoice all you cities of Judah!
Keep your gates ever open
that the hosts of the nations
may be brought in!
Their kings shall serve you
and all your oppressors shall bow down before you;
they shall lick the dust of your feet.
Shout for joy, O daughters of my people!
Deck yourselves with glorious jewels
and rule over the kingdom of the nations!
Sovereignty shall be to the Lord
and everlasting dominion to Israel.”

WR 21:15 “Then they shall gather in the camp that night to rest until the morning. And in the morning they shall go to the place where the formation stood before the warriors of the Kittim fell, and the multitudes of Assyria, and the hosts of all the nations assembled to discover whether the multitude of the stricken are dead with none to bury them, those who fell there under the Sword of God. And the High Priest shall draw near, with his vicar, and the chief Priests and the Levites with the Prince of the battle, and all the chiefs of the formations and their numbered men; they shall return to the positions which they held before the slain began to fall from among the Kittim, and there they shall praise the God of Israel…”

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The War Rule (1QM, 4QM) Read More »

The Damascus Document

Dead Sea Scrolls / 35 minutes of reading

From the Dead Sea Scrolls in English

Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Chapter 1

THE EXHORTATION

DD 1:1 “Hear now, all you who know righteousness, and consider the works of God; for He has a dispute with all flesh and will condemn all those who despise Him.”

DD 1:2 “For when they were unfaithful and forsook Him, He hid His face from Israel and His Sanctuary and delivered them up to the sword. But remembering the Covenant of the forefathers, He left a remnant to Israel and did not deliver it up to be destroyed. And in the age of wrath, three hundred and ninety years after He had given them into the hand of king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, He visited them, and He caused a plant root to spring from Israel and Aaron to inherit His Land and to prosper on the good things of His earth. And they perceived their iniquity and recognized that they were guilty men, yet for twenty years they were like blind men groping for the way.”

DD 1:3 “And God observed their deeds, that they sought Him with a whole heart, and He raised for them a Teacher of Righteousness to guide them in the way of His heart. And he made known to the latter generations that which God had done to the latter generation, the congregation of traitors, to those who departed from the way. This was the time of which it is written, Like a stubborn heifer thus was Israel stubborn (Hos 4:16), when the Scoffer arose who shed over Israel the waters of lies. He caused them to wander in a pathless wilderness, laying low the everlasting heights, abolishing the ways of righteousness and removing the boundary with which the forefathers had marked out their inheritance that he might call down on them the curses of His Covenant and deliver them up to the avenging sword of the Covenant. For they sought smooth things and preferred illusions (Isa 30:10) and they watched for breaks (Isa 30:13) and chose the fair neck; and they justified the wicked and condemned the just, and they transgressed the Covenant and violated the Precept. They banded together against the life of the righteous (Ps 94:21) and loathed all who walked in perfection; they pursued them with the sword and exulted in the strife of the people. And the anger of God was kindled against their congregation so that He ravaged all their multitude; and their deeds were defilement before Him.”

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Chapter 2

DD 2:1 “Hear now, all you who enter the Covenant, and I will unstop your ears concerning the ways of the wicked.”

DD 2:2 “God loves knowledge. Wisdom and understanding He has set before Him, and prudence and knowledge serve Him. Patience and much forgiveness are with Him towards those who turn from transgression; but power, might, and great flaming wrath by the hand of all the Angels of Destruction towards those who depart from the way and abhor the Precept. They shall have no remnant or survivor. For from the beginning God chose them not; He knew their deeds before ever they were created and He hated their generations, and He hid His face from the Land until they were consumed. For He knew the years of their coming and the length and exact duration of their times for all ages to come and throughout eternity. He knew the happenings of their time throughout all the everlasting years. And in all of them He raised for Himself men called by name, that a remnant might be left to the Land, and that the face of the earth might be filled with their seed. And He made known His Holy Spirit to them by the hand of His anointed ones, and He proclaimed the truth (to them). But those whom He hated He led astray.”

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Chapter 3

DD 3:1 “Hear now, my sons, and I will uncover your eyes that you see and understand the works of God, that you choose that which pleases Him and reject that which He hates, that you may walk perfectly in all His ways and not follow after thoughts of the guilty inclination and after eyes of lust. For through them, great men have gone astray and mighty heroes have stumbled from former times till now. Because they walked in the stubbornness of their heart the Heavenly Watchers fell; they were caught because they did not keep the commandments of God. And their sons also fell who were tall as cedar trees and whose bodies were like mountains. All flesh on dry land perished; they were as though they had never been because they did their own will and did not keep the commandment of their Maker so that His wrath was kindled against them. Through it, the children of Noah went astray, together with their kin, and were cut off. Abraham did not walk in it, and he was accounted a friend of God because he kept the commandments of God and did not choose his own will. And he handed them down to Isaac and Jacob, who kept them, and were recorded as friends of God and party to the Covenant for ever.”

DD 3:2 “The children of Jacob strayed through them and were punished in accordance with their error. And their sons in Egypt walked in the stubbornness of their hearts, conspiring against the commandments of God and each of them doing that which seemed right in his own eyes. They ate blood, and He cut off their males in the wilderness.”

DD 3:3 “And at Kadesh He said to them, Go up and possess the land (Deut 9:23). But they chose their own will and did not heed the voice of their Maker, the commands of their Teacher, but murmured in their tents; and the anger of God was kindled against their congregation. Through it their sons perished, and through it their kings were cut off; through it their mighty heroes perished and through it their land was ravaged. Through it the first members of the Covenant sinned and were delivered up to the sword, because they forsook the Covenant of God and chose their own will and walked in the stubbornness of their hearts each of them doing his own will.”

DD 3:4 “But with the remnant which held fast to the commandments of God He made His Covenant with Israel for ever, revealing to them the hidden things in which all Israel had gone astray. He unfolded before them His holy Sabbaths and his glorious feasts, the testimonies of His righteousness and the ways of His truth, and the desires of His will which a man must do in order to live. And they dug a well rich in water, and he who despises it shall not live. Yet they wallowed in the sin of man and in ways of uncleanness, and they said, ‘This is our (way).’ But God, in His wonderful mysteries, forgave them their sin and pardoned their wickedness; and He built them a sure house in Israel whose like has never existed from former times till now. Those who hold fast to it are destined to live for ever and all the glory of Adam shall be theirs. As God ordained for them by the hand of the Prophet Ezekiel, saying, The Priests, the Levites, and the sons of Zadok who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel strayed from me, they shall offer me fat and blood (Ezek 44:15).”

DD 3:5 “The Priests are the converts of Israel who departed from the land of Judah, and (the Levites are) those who joined them. The sons of Zadok are the elect of Israel, the men called by name who shall stand at the end of days. Behold the exact list of their names according to their generations, and the time when they lived, and the number of their trials, and the years of their sojourn, and the exact list of their deeds . . .”

DD 3:6 “(They were the first men) of holiness whom God forgave, and who justified the righteous and condemned the wicked. And until the age is completed, according to the number of those years, all who enter after them shall do according to that interpretation of the Law in which the first were instructed. According to the Covenant which God made with the forefathers, forgiving their sins, so shall He forgive their sins also. But when the age is completed, according to the number of those years, there shall be no more joining the house of Judah, but each man shall stand on his watchtower: The wall is built, the boundary far removed (Mic 7:11).”

DD 3:7 “During all those years Satan shall be unleashed against Israel, as He spoke by the hand of Isaiah, son of Amoz, saying, Terror and the pit and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the land (Isa 24:17). Interpreted, these are the three nets of Satan with which Levi son of Jacob said that he catches Israel by setting them up as three kinds of righteousness. The first is fornication, the second is riches, and the third is profanation of the Temple. Whoever escapes the first is caught in the second, and whoever saves himself from the second is caught in the third (Isa 24:18).”

DD 3:8 “The ‘builders of the wall’ (Ezek 13:10) who have followed after ‘Precept’ – ‘Precept’ was a spouter of whom it is written, They shall surely spout (Mic 2:6) – shall be caught in fornication twice by taking a second wife while the first is alive, whereas the principle of creation is, Male and female created He them (Gen 1:27). Also, those who entered the Ark went in two by two. And concerning the prince it is written, He shall not multiply wives to himself (Deut 17:17); but David had not read the sealed book of the Law which was in the ark (of the Covenant), for it was not opened in Israel from the death of Eleazar and Joshua, and the elders who worshiped Ashtoreth. It was hidden and (was not) revealed until the coming of Zadok. And the deeds of David rose up, except for the murder of Uriah, and God left them to him.”

DD 3:9 “Moreover, they profane the Temple because they do not observe the distinction (between clean and unclean) in accordance with the Law, but lie with a woman who sees her bloody discharge.”

DD 3:10 “And each man marries the daughter of his brother or sister, whereas Moses said, You shall not approach your mother’s sister; she is your mother’s near kin (Lev 18:13). But although the laws against incest are written for men, they also apply to women. When, therefore, a brother’s daughter uncovers the nakedness of her father’s brother, she is (also his) near kin.”

DD 3:11 “Furthermore, they defile their holy spirit and open their mouth with a blaspheming tongue against the laws of the Covenant of God saying, ‘They are not sure.’ They speak abominations concerning them; they are all kindlers of fire and lighters of brands (Isa 50:11), their webs are spiders’ webs and their eggs are vipers’ eggs (Isa 59:5). No man that approaches them shall be free from guilt; the more he does so, the guiltier shall he be, unless he is pressed. For (already) in ancient times God visited their deeds and His anger was kindled against their works; for it is a people of no discernment (Isa 27:11), it is a nation void of counsel inasmuch as there is no discernment in them (Deut 32:28). For in ancient times, Moses and Aaron arose by the hand of the Prince of Lights and Satan in his cunning raised up Jannes and his brother when Israel was first delivered.”

DD 3:12 “And at the time of the desolation of the Land there arose removers of the bound who led Israel astray. And the land was ravaged because they preached rebellion against the commandments of God given by the hand of Moses and of His holy anointed ones, and because they prophesied lies to turn Israel away from following God. But God remembered the Covenant with the forefathers, and he raised from Aaron men of discernment and from Israel men of wisdom, and He caused them to hear. And they dug the Well: the well which the princes dug, which the nobles of the people delved with the stave (Num 21:18).”

DD 3:13 “The Well is the Law, and those who dug it were the converts of Israel who went out of the land of Judah to sojourn in the land of Damascus. God called them all princes because they sought Him, and their renown was disputed by no man. The Stave is the Interpreter of the Law of whom Isaiah said, He makes a tool for His work (Isa 54:16); and the nobles of the people are those who come to dig the Well with the staves with which the Stave ordained that they should walk in all the age of wickedness – and without them they shall find nothing – until he comes who shall teach righteousness at the end of days.”

DD 3:14 “None of those brought into the Covenant shall enter the Temple to light His altar in vain. They shall bar the door, forasmuch as God said, Who among you will bar its door? And, You shall not light my altar in vain (Mal 1:10). They shall take care to act according to the exact interpretation of the Law during the age of wickedness. They shall separate from the sons of the Pit, and shall keep away from the unclean riches of wickedness acquired by vow or anathema or from the Temple treasure; they shall not rob the poor of His people, to make of widows their prey and of the fatherless their victim (Isa 10:2). They shall distinguish between clean and unclean, and shall proclaim the difference between holy and profane. They shall keep the Sabbath day according to its exact interpretation, and the feasts and the Day of Fasting according to the finding of the members of the New Covenant in the land of Damascus. They shall set aside the holy things according to the exact teaching concerning them. They shall love each man his brother as himself; they shall succor the poor, the needy, and the stranger.”

DD 3:15 “A man shall seek his brother’s well-being and shall not sin against his near kin. They shall keep from fornication according to the statute. They shall rebuke each man his brother according to the commandment and shall bear no rancor from one day to the next. They shall keep apart from every uncleanness according to the statutes relating to each one, and no man shall defile his holy spirit since God has set them apart. For all who walk in these (precepts) in perfect holiness, according to all the teaching of God, the Covenant of God shall be an assurance that they shall live for thousands of generations (Ms. B: as it is written, Keeping the Covenant and grace with those who love me and keep my commandments to a thousand generations, Deut 7:9).”

DD 3:16 “And if they live in camps according to the rule of the Land (Ms B: as it was from ancient times), marrying (Ms. B according to the custom of the Law) and begetting children, they shall walk according to the Law and according to the statute concerning binding vows, according to the rule of the Law which says, Between a man and his wife and between a father and his son (Num 30:17). And all those who despise (Ms. B the commandments and the statutes) shall be rewarded with the retribution of the wicked when God shall visit the Land, when the saying shall come to pass which is written* among the words of the Prophet Isaiah son of Amoz: He will bring upon you, and upon your people, and upon your father’s house, days such as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah (Isa 7:17). When the two houses of Israel were divided, Ephraim departed from Judah. And all the apostates were given up to the sword, but those who held fast escaped to the land of the north; as God said, I will exile the tabernacle of your king and the bases of your statues from my tent to Damascus (Amos 5:26‑7)”

* Ms. B continues: by the hand of the prophet Zechariah: Awake, O Sword, against my shepherd, and against my companion, says God, Strike the shepherd that the flock may be scattered and I will stretch my hand over the little ones (Zech 8:7). The humble of the flock are those who watch for Him. They shall be saved at the time of the Visitation whereas the others shall be delivered up to the sword when the Anointed of Aaron and Israel shall come, as it came to pass at the time of the former Visitation concerning which God said by the hand of Ezekiel: They shall put a mark on the foreheads of those who sigh and groan (Ezek 9:4). But the others were delivered up to the avenging sword of the Covenant.

DD 3:17 “The Books of the Law are the tabernacle of the king; as God said, I will raise up the tabernacle of David which is fallen (Amos 9:11). The king is the congregation; and the bases of the statues are the Books of the Prophets whose sayings Israel despised. The star is the Interpreter of the Law who shall come to Damascus; as it is written, A star shall come forth out of Jacob and a scepter shall rise out of Israel (Num 24:17). The scepter is the Prince of the whole congregation, and when he comes he shall smite all the children of Seth (Num. 24:17).”

DD 3:18 “At the time of the former Visitation they were saved, whereas the apostates were given up to the sword; and so shall it be for all the members of His Covenant who do not hold steadfastly to these (Ms. B: to the curse of the precepts). They shall be visited for destruction by the hand of Satan. That shall be the day when God will visit. (Ms. B: As He said,) The princes of Judah have become (Ms. B: like those who remove the bound); wrath shall be poured upon them (Hos 5:10). For they shall hope for healing but He will crush them. They are all of them rebels, for they* have not turned from the way of traitors but have wallowed in the ways of whoredom and wicked wealth. They have taken revenge and borne malice, every man against his brother, and every man has hated his fellow, and every man has sinned against his near kin, and has approached for unchastity, and has acted arrogantly for the sake of riches and gain. And every man has done that which seemed right in his eyes and has chosen the stubbornness of his heart. They have not kept apart from the people (Ms. B: and their sin) and have willfully rebelled by walking in the ways of the wicked of whom God said, Their wine is the venom of serpents, the cruel poison (or head) of asps (Deut 32:33).”

* Ms. B inserts: they have entered the Covenant of repentance but they have not turned, etc.

DD 3:19 “The serpents are the kings of the peoples and their wine is their ways. And the head of asps is the chief of the kings of Greece who came to wreak vengeance upon them. But all these things the builders of the wall and those who daub it with plaster (Ezek 13:10) have not understood because a follower of the wind, one who raised storms and rained down lies, had preached to them (Mic 2:11), against all of whose assembly the anger of God was kindled.”

DD 3:20 “And as for that which Moses said, You enter to possess these nations not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your hearts (Deut 9:5) but because God loved your fathers and kept the oath (Deut 7:8) thus shall it be with the converts of Israel who depart from the way of the people. Because God loved the first who* testified in His favor, so will He love those who come after them, for the Covenant of the fathers is theirs. But He hated the builders of the wall and His anger was kindled (Ms. B against them and against all those who followed them); and so shall it be for all who reject the commandments of God and abandon them for the stubbornness of their hearts. This is the word which Jeremiah spoke to Baruch son of Neriah, and which Elisha spoke to his servant Gehazi.”

* Ms. B adds: bore witness against the people, so will He love, etc

DD 3:21 “None of the men who enter the New Covenant in the land Damascus, and who again betray it and depart from the fountain of living waters, shall be reckoned with the Council of the people or inscribed in its Book from the day of the gathering in of the Teacher of the Community until the coming of the Messiah out of Aaron and Israel.”

DD 3:22 “And thus shall it be for every man who enters the congregation of men of perfect holiness but faints in performing the duties of the upright. He is a man who has melted in the furnace (Eze 22:22); when his deeds are revealed he shall be expelled from the congregation as though his lot had never fallen among the disciples of God. The men of knowledge shall rebuke him in accordance with his sin against the time when he shall stand again before the Assembly of the men of perfect holiness. But when his deeds are revealed, according to the interpretation of the Law in which the men of perfect holiness walk, let no man defer to him with regard to money or work, for all the Holy Ones of the Most High have cursed him.”

DD 3:23 “And thus shall it be for all among the first and the last who reject (the precepts), who set idols upon their hearts and walk in the stubbornness of their hearts; they shall have no share in the house of the Law. They shall be judged in the same manner as their companions were judged who deserted to the Scoffer. For they have spoken wrongly against the precepts of righteousness and have despised the Covenant and the Pact – the New Covenant – which they made in the land of Damascus. Neither they nor their kin shall have any part in the house of the Law.”

DD 3:24 “From the day of the gathering in of the Teacher of the Community until the end of all the men of war who deserted to the Liar there shall pass about forty years (Deut 2:14). And during that age the wrath of God shall be kindled against Israel; as He said, There shall be no king, no prince, no judge, no man to rebuke with justice (Hos 3:4). But those who turn from the sin of Jacob, who keep the Covenant of God, shall then speak each man to his fellow, to justify each man his brother, that their step may take the way of God. And God will heed their words and will hear, and a Book of Reminder shall be written before Him of them that fear God and worship His Name, against the time when salvation and righteousness shall be revealed to them that fear God. And then shall you distinguish once more between the just and the wicked, between one that serves God and one that serves Him not (Mal 3:18); and He will show loving kindness to thousands, to them that love Him and watch for Him, for a thousand generations (Exo 20:6).”

DD 3:25 “And every member of the House of Separation who went out of the Holy City and leaned on God at the time when Israel sinned and defiled the Temple, but returned again to the way of the people in small matters, shall be judged according to his spirit in the Council of Holiness. But when the glory of God is made manifest to Israel, all those members of the Covenant who have breached the bound of the Law shall be cut off from the midst of the camp, and with them all those who condemned Judah in the days of its trials.”

DD 3:26 “But all those who hold fast to these precepts, going and coming in accordance with the Law, who heed the voice of the Teacher and confess before God (saying), ‘Truly we have sinned, we and our fathers, by walking counter to the precepts of the Covenant, Your judgements upon us are justice and truth’; who do not lift their hand against His holy precepts or His righteous statutes or His true testimonies; who have learned from the former judgements by which the members of the Community were judged; who have listened to the voice of the Teacher of Righteousness and have not despised the precepts of righteousness when they heard them; they shall rejoice and their hearts shall be strong, and they shall prevail over all the sons of the earth. God will forgive them and they shall see His salvation because they took refuge in His holy Name.”

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Chapter 4

THE STATUTES

DD 4:1 “. . . (He shall not) swear by (the Name), nor by Aleph and Lamed (Elohim), nor by Aleph and Daleth (Adonai), but a binding oath by the curses of the Covenant.”

DD 4:2 “He shall not mention the Law of Moses for . . . were he to swear and then break (his oath) he would profane the Name.”

DD 4:3 “But if he has sworn an oath by the curses of the Covenant before the judges and has transgressed it, then he is guilty and shall confess and make restitution; but he shall not be burdened with a capital sin.”

DD 4:4 “And when the children of all those who have entered Covenant, granted to all Israel for ever, reach the age of enrollment, they shall swear with the oath of the Covenant. And thus shall it be during all the age of wickedness for every man who repents of his corrupted way. On the day that he speaks to the Guardian of the congregation, they shall enroll him with the oath of the Covenant which Moses made with Israel, the Covenant to return to the Law of Moses with a whole heart and soul, to whatever is found should be done at that time. No man shall make known the statutes to him until he has stood before the Guardian lest when examining him the Guardian be deceived by him. But if he transgresses after swearing to return to the Law of Moses with a whole heart and soul, then retribution shall be exacted from him . . . And all that is revealed of the Law . . . the Guardian shall examine him and shall issue directions concerning him . . . for a full year according to . . .”

DD 4:5 “No madman, or lunatic, or simpleton, or fool, no blind man or maimed, or lame, or deaf man, and no minor, shall enter into the Community, for the Angels of Holiness are with them . . .”

DD 4:6 “(For God made) a Covenant with you and all Israel; therefore a man shall bind himself by oath to return to the Law of Moses, for in it all things are strictly defined.”

DD 4:7 “As for the exact determination of their times to which Israel turns a blind eye, behold it is strictly defined in the Book of the Divisions of the Times into their Jubilees and Weeks. And on the day that a man swears to return to the Law of Moses, the Angel of Persecution shall cease to follow him provided that he fulfills word: for this reason Abraham circumcised himself on the day that he knew.”

DD 4:8 “And concerning the saying, You shall keep your vow by fulfilling it (Deut 23:24), let no man, even at the price of death, annul any binding oath by which he has sworn to keep a commandment of the Law.”

DD 4:9 “But even at the price of death, a man shall fulfil no vow which he has sworn to depart from the Law.”

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Chapter 5

Concerning the oath of a woman

DD 5:1 “Inasmuch as He said, It is for her husband to cancel her oath (Num 30:9), no husband shall cancel an oath without knowing whether it should be kept or not. Should it be such as to lead to transgression of the Covenant, he shall cancel it and shall not let it be kept. The rule for her father is likewise.”

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Chapter 6

Concerning the statute for free-will offerings

DD 6:1 “No man shall vow to the altar anything unlawfully acquired. Also, no Priest shall take from Israel anything unlawfully acquired.”

DD 6:2 “And no man shall consecrate the food of his house to God, for it is as He said, Each hunts his brother with a net (or votive-offering: Mic 7:2).”

DD 6:3 “Every man who vows another to destruction by the laws of the Gentiles shall himself be put to death.”

DD 6:4 “And concerning the saying, You shall not take vengeance on the children of your people, nor bear any rancor against them (Lev 19:18), if any member of the Covenant accuses his companion without first rebuking him before witnesses; if he denounces him in the heat of his anger or reports him to his elders to make him look contemptible, he is one that takes vengeance and bears rancor, although it is expressly written, He takes vengeance upon His adversaries and bears rancor against His enemies (Nah 1:2). If he holds his peace towards him from one day to another, and thereafter speaks of him in the heat of his anger, he testifies against himself concerning a capital matter because he has not fulfilled the commandment of God which tells him: You shall rebuke your companion and not be burdened with sin because of him (Lev 19:17).”

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Chapter 7

Concerning the oath with reference to that which He said, You shall not take the law into your own hands (1 Sam 25:26)

DD 7:1 Whoever causes another to swear in the field instead of before the Judges, or at their decree, takes the law into his own hands. When anything is lost, and it is not known who has stolen it from the property of the camp in which it was stolen, its owner shall pronounce a curse, and any man who, on hearing (it), knows but does not tell, shall himself be guilty.”

DD 7:2 “When anything is returned which is without an owner, whoever returns it shall confess to the Priest, and apart from the ram of the sin-offering, it shall be his.”

DD 7:3 “And likewise, everything which is found but has no owner shall go to the Priests, for the finder is ignorant of the rule concerning it. If no owners are discovered they shall keep it.”

DD 7:4 “Every sin which a man commits against the Law, and which his companion witnesses, he being alone, if it is a capital matter he shall report it to the Guardian, rebuking him in his presence, and the Guardian shall record it against him in case he should commit it again before one man and he should report it to the Guardian once more. Should he repeat it and be taken in the act before one man, his case shall be complete.”

DD 7:5 “And if there are two (witnesses), each testifying to a different matter, the man shall be excluded from the pure Meal provided that they are trustworthy and that each informs the Guardian on the day that they witnessed (the offense). In matters of property, they shall accept two trustworthy witnesses and shall exclude (the culprit) from the pure Meal on the word of one witness alone.”

DD 7:6 “No Judge shall pass sentence of death on the testimony of a witness who has not yet attained the age of enrollment and who is not God-fearing.”

DD 7:7 “No man who has willfully transgressed any commandment shall be declared a trustworthy witness against his companion until he is purified and able to return.”

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Chapter 8

And this is the Rule for the Judges of the Congregation

DD 8:1 Ten shall be elected from the congregation for a definite time, four from the tribe of Levi and Aaron, and six from Israel. (They shall be) learned in the Book of Meditation and in the constitutions of the Covenant, and aged between twenty-five and sixty years. No man over the age of sixty shall hold office as Judge of the Congregation, for ‘because man sinned his days have been shortened, and in the heat of His anger against the inhabitants of the earth God ordained that their understanding should depart even before their days are completed’ (Jubilees 23:11)”

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Chapter 9

Concerning purification by water

DD 9:1 No man shall bathe in dirty water or in an amount too shallow to cover a man. He shall not purify himself with water contained in a vessel. And as for the water of every rock-pool too shallow to cover a man, if an unclean man touches it he renders its water as unclean as water contained in a vessel.”

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Chapter 10

Concerning the Sabbath to observe it according to its law

DD 10:1 “No man shall work on the sixth day from the moment when the sun’s orb is distant by its own fullness from the gate (wherein

it sinks); for this is what He said, Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy (Deut 5:12). No man shall speak any vain or idle word on the Sabbath day. He shall make no loan to his companion. He shall make no decision in matters of money and gain. He shall say nothing about work or labor to be done on the morrow.”

DD 10:2 “No man shall walk abroad to do business on the Sabbath. He shall not walk more than one thousand cubits beyond his town.”

DD 10:3 “No man shall eat on the Sabbath day except that which is already prepared. He shall eat nothing lying in the fields. He shall not drink except in the camp. If he is on a journey and goes down to bathe, he shall drink where he stands, but he shall not draw water into a vessel. He shall send out no stranger on his business on the Sabbath day.”

DD 10:4 “No man shall wear soiled garments, or garments brought to the store, unless they have been washed with water or rubbed with incense.”

DD 10:5 “No man shall willingly mingle (with others) on the Sabbath.”

DD 10:6 “No man shall walk more than two thousand cubits after a beast to pasture it outside his town. He shall not raise his hand to strike it with his fist. If it is stubborn he shall not take it out of his house.”

DD 10:7 “No man shall take anything out of the house or bring anything in. And if he is in a booth, let him neither take anything out nor bring anything in. He shall not open a sealed vessel on the Sabbath.”

DD 10:8 “No man shall carry perfumes on himself while going and coming on the Sabbath. He shall lift neither sand nor dust in his dwelling. No man minding a child shall carry it while going and coming on the Sabbath.”

DD 10:9 “No man shall chide his manservant or maidservant or laborer on the Sabbath.”

DD 10:10 “No man shall assist a beast to give birth on the Sabbath day. And if it should fall into a cistern or pit, he shall not lift it out on the Sabbath.”

DD 10:11 No man shall spend the Sabbath in a place near to Gentiles on the Sabbath.”

DD 10:12 “No man shall profane the Sabbath for the sake of riches or gain on the Sabbath day. But should any man fall into water or fire, let him be pulled out with the aid of a ladder or rope or (some such) utensil.”

DD 10:13 “No man on the Sabbath shall offer anything on the altar except the Sabbath burnt‑offering; for it is written thus: Except your Sabbath offerings (Lev. 23:38).”

DD 10:14 “No man shall send to the altar any burnt‑offering, or cereal offering, or incense, or wood, by the hand of one smitten with any uncleanness, permitting him thus to defile the altar. For it is written, The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination, but the prayer of the just is as an agreeable offering (Prov 15:8).”

DD 10:15 “No man entering the house of worship shall come unclean and in need of washing. And at the sounding of the trumpets for assembly, he shall go there before or after (the meeting), and shall not cause the whole service to stop, for it is a holy service.”

DD 10:16 “No man shall lie with a woman in the city of the Sanctuary to defile the city of the Sanctuary with their uncleanness.”

DD 10:17 “Every man who preaches apostasy under the dominion of the spirits of Satan shall be judged according to the law relating to those possessed by a ghost or familiar spirit (Lev 20:27). But no man who strays so as to profane the Sabbath and the feasts shall be put to death; it shall fall to men to keep him in custody. And if he is healed of his error, they shall keep him in custody for seven years and he shall afterwards approach the Assembly.

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Chapter 11

DD 11:1 “No man shall stretch out his hand to shed the blood of a Gentile for the sake of riches and gain. Nor shall he carry off of theirs, lest they blaspheme, unless so advised by the company of Israel.”

DD 11:2 “No man shall sell clean beasts or birds to the Gentiles lest they offer them in sacrifice. He shall refuse, with all his power, to sell them anything from his granary or wine‑press, and he shall not sell them his manservant or maidservant inasmuch as they have been brought by him into the Covenant of Abraham.”

DD 11:3 “No man shall defile himself by eating any live creature or creeping thing, from the larvae of bees to all creatures which creep in water. They shall eat no fish unless split alive and their blood poured out. And as for locusts, according to their various kinds they shall plunge them alive into fire or water, for this is what their nature requires.”

DD 11:4 “All wood and stones and dust defiled by the impurity of a man shall be reckoned like men with regard to conveying defilement. And whoever touches them shall be defiled by their defilement. And every nail or peg in the wall of a house in which a dead man lies shall become unclean as any working tool becomes unclean (Lev 11:32).”

DD 11:5 “The Rule for the assembly of the towns of Israel shall be according to these precepts that they may distinguish between unclean and clean, and discriminate between the holy and the profane.”

DD 11:6 “And these are the precepts in which the Master shall walk in his commerce with all the living in accordance with the statute proper to every age. And in accordance with this statute shall the seed of Israel walk and they shall not be cursed.”

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Chapter 12

This is the Rule for the assembly of the camps

DD 12:1 “Those who follow these statutes in the age of wickedness until the coming of the Messiah of Aaron and Israel shall form groups of at least ten men, by Thousands, Hundreds, Fifties, and Tens (Exod 18:25). And where the ten are, there shall never be lacking a Priest learned in the Book of Meditation; they shall all be ruled by him.”

DD 12:2 “But should he not be experienced in these matters, whereas one of the Levites is experienced in them, then it shall be determined that all the members of the camp shall go and come according to the latter’s word.”

DD 12:3 “But should there be a case of applying the law of leprosy to a man, then the Priest shall come and shall stand in the camp and the Guardian shall instruct him in the exact interpretation of the Law.”

DD 12:4 “Even if the Priest is a simpleton, it is he who shall lock up (the leper); for theirs is the judgement.”

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Chapter 13

This is the Rule for the Guardian of the Camp

DD 13:1 “He shall instruct the Congregation in the works of God. He shall cause them to consider His mighty deeds and shall recount all the happenings of eternity to them. . . He shall love them as a father loves his children, and shall carry them in all their distress like a shepherd his sheep. He shall loosen all the fetters which bind them that in his Congregation there may be none that are oppressed or broken. He shall examine every man entering his Congregation with regard to his deeds, understanding, strength, ability and possessions, and shall inscribe him in his place according to his rank in the lot of Light.”

DD 13:2 “No member of the camp shall have authority to admit a man to the Congregation against the decision of the Guardian of the camp.”

DD 13:3 “No member of the Covenant of God shall give or receive anything from the sons of the Pit except for payment.”

DD 13:4 “No man shall form any association for buying and selling with out informing the Guardian of the camp . . .”

DD 13:5 “This is the Rule for the assembly of the camps during all the age of wickedness, and whoever does not hold fast to these (statutes) shall not be fit to dwell in the Land when the Messiah of Aaron and Israel shall come at the end of days.”

DD 13:6 “And these are the precepts in which the Master shall walk in his commerce with all the living until God shall visit the earth. As He said, There shall come upon you, and upon your people, and upon your father’s house, days such as have not come since Ephraim departed from Judah (Isa 7:17); but for whoever shall walk in these (precepts), the Covenant of God shall stand firm to save him from all the snares of the Pit, whereas the foolish shall be punished.”

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Chapter 14

The Rule for the assembly of all the camps

DD 14:1 “They shall all be enrolled by name: first the Priests, second the Levites, third the Israelites, and fourth the proselytes. And they shall be inscribed by name, one after the other: the Priests first, the Levites second, the Israelites third, and the proselytes fourth. And thus shall they sit and thus be questioned on all matters. And the Priest who enrolls the Congregation shall be from thirty to sixty years old, learned in the Book of Meditation and in all the judgements of the Law so as to pronounce them correctly.”

DD 14:2 “The Guardian of all the camps shall be from thirty to fifty years old, one who has mastered all the secrets of men and the languages of all their clans. Whoever enters the Congregation shall do so according to his word, each in his rank. And whoever has anything to say with regard to any suit or judgement, let him say it to the Guardian.”

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Chapter 15

This is the Rule for the Congregation by which it shall provide for all its needs

DD 15:1 “They shall place the earnings of at least two days out of every month into‑the hands of the Guardian and the Judges, and from it they shall give to the fatherless, and from it they shall succor the poor and the needy, the aged sick and the homeless, the captive taken by a foreign people, the virgin with no near kin, and the maid for whom no man cares . . .”

DD 15:2 “And this is the exact statement of the assembly . . .”

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Chapter 16

This is the exact statement of the statutes in which they shall walk until the coming of the Messiah of Aaron and Israel who will pardon their iniquity

DD 16:1 “Whoever deliberately lies in a matter of property . . . and shall do penance for six days . . .”

DD 16:2 “Whoever slanders his companion or bears rancor unjustly shall do penance for one year . . .”

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The Damascus Document Read More »

The Community Rule (1QS)

Dead Sea Scrolls / 36 minutes of reading

Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Chapter 1

CR 1:1 I The Master shall teach the saints to live according to the Book of the Community Rule, that they may seek God with a whole heart and soul, and do what is good and right before Him as He commanded by the hand of Moses and all His servants the Prophets; that they may love all that He has chosen and hate all that he has rejected; that they may abstain from all evil and hold fast to all good; that they may practice truth, righteousness, and justice upon earth and no longer stubbornly follow a sinful heart and lustful eyes committing all manner of evil. He shall admit into the Covenant of Grace all those who have freely devoted themselves to the observance of God’s precepts, that they may be joined to the counsel of God and may live perfectly before Him in accordance with all that has been revealed concerning their appointed times, and that they may love all the sons of light, each according to his lot in God’s design, and hate all the sons of darkness, each according to his guilt in God’s vengeance.

CR 1:2 All those who freely devote themselves to His truth shall bring all their knowledge, powers, and possessions into the Community of God, that they may purify their knowledge in the truth of God’s precepts and order their powers according to His ways of perfection and all their possessions according to His righteous counsel. They shall not depart from any command of God concerning their times; they shall be neither early nor late for any of their appointed times, they shall stray neither to right nor to left of any of His true precepts. All those who embrace the Community Rule shall enter into the Covenant before God to obey all His commandments so that they may not abandon Him during the dominion of Satan because of fear or terror or affliction.

CR 1:3 “On entering the Covenant, the Priests and Levites shall bless the God of salvation and all His faithfulness, and all those entering the Covenant shall say after them, ‘Amen, Amen!’“

CR 1:4 “Then the Priests shall recite the favors of God manifested in His mighty deeds and shall declare all His merciful grace to Israel and the Levites shall recite the iniquities of the children of Israel all their guilty rebellions and sins during the dominion of Satan. And after them, all those entering the Covenant shall confess and say: ‘We have strayed! We have disobeyed! We and our fathers before us have sinned and done wickedly in walking counter to the precepts of truth and righteousness. And God has judged us and our fathers also; but He has bestowed His bountiful mercy on us from everlasting to everlasting.’ And the Priests shall bless all the men of the lot of God who walk perfectly in all His ways, saying: ‘May He bless you with all good and preserve you from all evil! May He lighten your heart with life-giving wisdom and grant you eternal knowledge! May he raise His merciful face towards you for everlasting bliss!’“

CR 1:5 “And the Levites shall curse all the men of the lot of Satan, saying: ‘Be cursed because of all your guilty wickedness! May He deliver you up for torture at the hands of the vengeful Avengers! May He visit you with destruction by the hand of all the Wreakers of Revenge! Be cursed without mercy because of the darkness of your deeds! Be damned in the shadowy place of everlasting fire! May God not heed when you call on Him, nor pardon you by blotting out your sin! May He raise His angry face towards you for vengeance! May there be no “Peace” for you in the mouth of those who hold fast to the Fathers!’ And after the blessing and the cursing, all those entering the Covenant shall say, ‘Amen, Amen!’“

CR 1:6 “And the Priests and Levites shall continue, saying: ‘Cursed be the man who enters this Covenant while walking among the idols of his heart, who sets up before himself his stumbling-block of sin so that he may backslide! Hearing the words of this Covenant, he blesses himself in his heart and says, “Peace be with me, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart” (Deut. 29:18‑19), whereas his spirit, parched (for lack of truth) and watered (with lies), shall be destroyed without pardon. God’s wrath and His zeal for His precepts shall consume him in everlasting destruction. All the curses of the Covenant shall cling to him and God will set him apart for evil. He shall be cut off from the midst of all the sons of light, and because he has turned aside from God on account of his idols and his stumbling-block of sin, his lot shall be among those who are cursed for ever.’ And after them, all those entering the Covenant shall answer and say, ‘Amen, Amen!’

CR 1:7 Thus shall they do, year by year, for as long as the dominion of Satan endures. The Priests shall enter first, ranked one after another according to the perfection of their spirit; then the Levites; and thirdly, all the people one after another in their Thousands, Hundreds, Fifties, and Tens, that every Israelite may know his place in the Community of God according to the everlasting design. No man shall move down from his place nor move up from his allotted position. For according to the holy design, they shall all of them be in a Community of truth and virtuous humility, of loving kindness and good intent one towards the other, and (they shall all of them be) sons of the everlasting Company.

CR 1:8 No man shall be in the Community of His truth who refuses to enter the Covenant of God so that he may walk in the stubbornness of his heart, for his soul detests the Wise teaching of just laws. He shall not be counted among the upright for he has not persisted in the conversion of his life. His knowledge, powers, and possessions shall not enter the Council of the Community, for whoever ploughs the mud of wickedness returns defiled (?). He shall not be justified by that which his stubborn heart declares lawful, for seeking the ways of light he looks towards darkness. He shall not be reckoned among the perfect; he shall neither be purified by atonement, nor cleansed by purifying waters, nor sanctified by seas and rivers, nor washed clean with any ablution. Unclean, unclean shall he be. For as long as he despises the precepts of God he shall receive no instruction in the Community of His counsel.

CR 1:9 For it is through the spirit of true counsel concerning the ways of man that all his sins shall be expiated that he may contemplate the light of life. He shall be cleansed from all his sins by the spirit of holiness uniting him to His truth, and his iniquity shall be expiated by the spirit of uprightness and humility. And when his flesh is sprinkled with purifying water and sanctified by cleansing water, it shall be made clean by the humble submission of his soul to all the precepts of God. Let him then order his steps to walk perfectly in all the ways commanded by God concerning the times appointed for him, straying neither to right nor to left and transgressing none of His words, and he shall be accepted by virtue of pleasing atonement before God and it shall be to him a Covenant of the everlasting Community.

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Chapter 2

CR 2:1 The Master shall instruct all the sons of light and shall teach them the nature of all the children of men according to the kind of spirit which they possess, the signs identifying their works during their lifetime, their visitation for chastisement, and the time of their reward.

CR 2:2 From the God of Knowledge comes all that is and shall be. Before ever they existed He established their whole design, and when, as ordained for them, they come into being, it is in accord with His glorious design that they accomplish their task without change. The laws of all things are in His hand and He provides them with all their needs.

CR 2:3 He has created man to govern the world, and has appointed for him two spirits in which to walk until the time of His visitation: the spirits of truth and falsehood. Those born of truth spring from a fountain of light, but those born of falsehood spring from a source of darkness. All the children of righteousness are ruled by the Prince of Light and walk in the ways of light, but all the children of falsehood are ruled by the Angel of Darkness and walk in the ways of darkness.

CR 2:4 The Angel of Darkness leads all the children of righteousness astray, and until his end, all their sin, iniquities, wickedness, and all their unlawful deeds are caused by his dominion in accordance with the mysteries of God. Every one of their chastisements, and every one of the seasons of their distress, shall be brought about by the rule of his persecution; for all his allotted spirits seek the overthrow of the sons of light.

CR 2:5 But the God of Israel and His Angel of Truth will succor all the sons of light. For it is He who created the spirits of Light and Darkness and founded every action upon them and established every deed upon their ways. And He loves the one everlastingly and delights in its works for ever; but the counsel of the other He loathes and for ever hates its ways.

CR 2:6 These are their ways in the world for the enlightenment of the heart of man, and that all the paths of true righteousness may be made straight before him, and that the fear of the laws of God may be instilled in his heart: a spirit of humility, patience, abundant charity, unending goodness, understanding, and intelligence; (a spirit of) mighty wisdom which trusts in all the deeds of God and leans on His great loving kindness; a spirit of discernment in every purpose, of zeal for just laws, of holy intent with steadfastness of heart, of great charity/love towards all the sons of truth, of admirable purity which detests all unclean idols, of humble conduct sprung from an understanding of all things, and of faithful concealment of the mysteries of truth. These are the counsels of the spirit to the sons of truth in this world.

CR 2:7 And as for the visitation of all who walk in this spirit, it shall be healing, great peace in a long life, and fruitfulness, together with every everlasting blessing and eternal joy in life without end, a crown of glory and a garment of majesty in unending light.

CR 2:8 But the ways of the spirit of falsehood are these: greed, and slackness in the search for righteousness, wickedness and lies, haughtiness and pride, falseness and deceit, cruelty and abundant evil, ill-temper and much folly and brazen insolence, abominable deeds (committed) in a spirit of lust, and ways of lewdness in the service of uncleanness, a blaspheming tongue, blindness of eye and dullness of ear, stiffness of neck and heaviness of heart, so that man walks in all the ways of darkness and guile.

CR 2:9 And the visitation of all who walk in this spirit shall be a multitude of plagues by the hand of all the destroying angels, everlasting damnation by the avenging wrath of the fury of God, eternal torment and endless disgrace together with shameful extinction in the fire of the dark regions. The times of all their generations shall be spent in sorrowful mourning and in bitter misery and in calamities of darkness until they are destroyed without remnant or survivor.

CR 2:10 The nature of all the children of the men is ruled by these (two spirits), and during their life all the hosts of men have a portion of their divisions and walk in (both) their ways. And the whole reward for their deeds shall be, for everlasting ages, according to whether each man’s portion in their two divisions is great or small. For God has established the spirits in equal measure until the final age, and has set everlasting hatred between their divisions. Truth abhors the works of falsehood, and falsehood hates all the ways of truth. And their struggle is fierce in all their arguments for they do not walk together.

CR 2:11 But in the mysteries of His understanding, and in His glorious wisdom, God has ordained an end for falsehood, and at the time of the visitation He will destroy it for ever. Then truth, which has wallowed in the ways of wickedness during the dominion of falsehood until the appointed time of judgement, shall arise in the world for ever. God will then purify every deed of man with his truth; He will refine for Himself the human frame by rooting out all spirit of falsehood/injustice from the bounds of his flesh. He will cleanse him of all wicked deeds with the spirit of holiness; like purifying waters He will shed upon him the spirit of truth (to cleanse him) of all abomination and falsehood. And he shall be plunged into the spirit of purification that he may instruct the upright in the knowledge of the Most High and teach the wisdom of the sons of heaven to the perfect of way. For God has chosen them for an everlasting Covenant and all the glory of Adam shall be theirs. There shall be no more lies and all the works of falsehood shall be put to shame.

CR 2:12 Until now the spirits of truth and falsehood struggle in the hearts of men and they walk in both wisdom and folly. According to his portion of truth so does a man hate falsehood, and according to his inheritance in the realm of falsehood so is he wicked and so hates truth. For God has established the two spirits in equal measure until the determined end, and until the Renewal and He knows the reward of their deeds from all eternity. He has allotted them to the children of men that they may know good and evil, and that the destiny of all the living may be according to the spirit within them at the time of the visitation.

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Chapter 3

And this is the Rule for the men of the Community who have freely pledged themselves to be converted from all evil and to cling to all His commandments according to His will.

CR 3:1 They shall separate from the congregation of the men of falsehood/injustice and shall unite, with respect to the Law and possessions, under the authority of the sons of Zadok, the Priests who keep the Covenant, and of the multitude of the men of the Community who hold fast to the Covenant. Every decision concerning doctrine, property, and justice shall be determined by them.

CR 3:2 They shall practice truth and humility in common, and justice and uprightness and charity/love and modesty in all their ways. No man shall walk in the stubbornness of his heart so that he strays after his heart and eyes and evil inclination, but he shall circumcise in the Community the foreskin of evil inclination and of stiffness of neck that they may lay a foundation of truth for Israel, for the Community of the everlasting Covenant. They shall atone for all those in Aaron who have freely pledged themselves to holiness, and for those in Israel who have freely pledged themselves to the House of Truth, and for those who join them to live in community and to take part in the trial and judgement and condemnation of all those who transgress the precepts.

CR 3:3 On joining the Community, this shall be their code of behavior with respect to all these precepts.

CR 3:4 Whoever approaches the Council of the Community shall enter the Covenant of God in the presence of all who have freely pledged themselves. He shall undertake by a binding oath to return with all his heart and soul to every commandment of the Law of Moses in accordance with all that has been revealed of it to the sons of Zadok, the Keepers of the Covenant and Seekers of His will, and to the multitude of the men of their Covenant who together have freely pledged themselves to His truth and to walking in the way of His delight. And he shall undertake by the Covenant to separate from all the men of falsehood who walk in the way of wickedness.

CR 3:5 For they are not reckoned in His Covenant. They have neither inquired nor sought after Him concerning His laws that they might know the hidden things in which they have sinfully erred; and matters revealed they have treated with insolence. Therefore Wrath shall rise up to condemn, and Vengeance shall be executed by the curses of the Covenant, and great chastisements of eternal destruction shall be visited on them, leaving no remnant. They shall not enter the water to partake of the pure Meal of the saints, for they shall not be cleansed unless they turn from their wickedness: for all who transgress His word are unclean. Likewise, no man shall consort with him with regard to his work or property lest he be burdened with the guilt of his sin. He shall indeed keep away from him in all things: as it is written, Keep away from all that is false (Exod 23:7). No member of the Community shall follow them in matters of doctrine and justice, or eat or drink anything of theirs, or take anything from them except for a price; as it is written, Keep away from the man in whose nostrils is breath, for wherein is he counted? (Isa 2:22). For all those not reckoned in His Covenant are to be set apart, together with all that is theirs. None of the saints shall lean upon works of vanity: for they are all vanity who know not His Covenant, and He will blot from the earth all them that despise His word. All their deeds are defilement before Him, and all their possessions unclean.

CR 3:6 But when a man enters the Covenant to walk according to all these precepts that he may join the holy Congregation, they shall examine his spirit in community with respect to his understanding and practice of the Law, under the authority of the sons of Aaron who have freely pledged themselves in the Community to restore His Covenant and to heed all the precepts commanded by Him, and of the multitude of Israel who have freely pledged themselves in the Community to return to His Covenant. They shall inscribe them in the order, one after another, according to their understanding and their deeds, that every one may obey his companion, the man of lesser rank obeying his superior. And they shall examine their spirit and deeds yearly, so that each man may be advanced in accordance with his understanding and perfection of way, or moved down in accordance with the offenses committed by him/in accordance with his distortions.

CR 3:7 They shall rebuke one another in truth, humility, and love. Let no man address his companion with anger, or ill-temper, or obduracy, or with envy prompted by the spirit of wickedness. Let him not hate him because of his uncircumcised heart, but let him rebuke him on the very same day lest he incur guilt because of him. And furthermore, let no man accuse his companion before the Congregation without having first admonished him in the presence of witnesses.

CR 3:8 These are the ways in which all of them shall walk, each man with his companion, wherever they dwell. The man of lesser rank shall obey the greater in matters of work and money. They shall eat in common and pray in common and deliberate in common.

CR 3:9 Wherever there are ten men of the Council of the Community there shall not lack a Priest among them. And they shall all sit before him according to their rank and shall be asked their counsel in all things in that order. And when the table has been prepared for eating, and the new wine for drinking, the Priest shall be the first to stretch out his hand to bless the first-fruits of the bread and new wine.

CR 3:11 And where the ten are, there shall never lack a man among them who shall study the Law continually, day and night, concerning the right conduct of a man with his companion. And the Congregation shall watch in community for a third of every night of the year, to read the Book and to study Law and to pray together.

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Chapter 4

This is the Rule for an Assembly of the Congregation

CR 4:1 Each man shall sit in his place: the Priests shall sit first, and the elders second, and all the rest of the people according to their rank. And thus shall they be questioned concerning the Law, and concerning any counsel or matter coming before the Congregation, each man bringing his knowledge to the Council of the Community.

CR 4:2 No man shall interrupt a companion before his speech has ended, nor speak before a man of higher rank; each man shall speak in his turn. And in an Assembly of the Congregation no man shall speak without the consent of the Congregation, nor indeed of the Guardian of the Congregation. Should any man wish to speak to the Congregation, yet not be in a position to question the Council of the Community, let him rise to his feet and say: ‘I have something to say to the Congregation.’ If they command him to speak, he shall speak.

CR 4:3 Every man, born of Israel, who freely pledges himself to join the Council of the Community shall be examined by the Guardian at the head of the Congregation concerning his understanding and his deeds. If he is fitted to the discipline, he shall admit him into the Covenant that he may be converted to the truth and depart from all falsehood; and he shall instruct him in all the rules of the Community. And later, when he comes to stand before the Congregation, they shall all deliberate his case, and according to the decision of the Council of the Congregation he shall either enter or depart. After he has entered the Council of the Community he shall not touch the pure Meal of the Congregation until one full year is completed, and until he has been examined concerning his spirit and deeds; nor shall he have any share of the property of the Congregation. Then when he has completed one year within the Community, the Congregation shall deliberate his case with regard to his understanding and observance of the Law. And if it be his destiny, according to the judgement of the Priests and the multitude of the men of their Covenant, to enter the company of the Community, his property and earnings shall be handed over to the Bursar of the Congregation who shall register it to his account and shall not spend it for the Congregation. He shall not touch the Drink of the Congregation until he has completed a second year among the men of the Community. But when the second year has passed, he shall be examined, and if it be his destiny, according to the judgement of the Congregation, to enter the Community, then he shall be inscribed among his brethren in the order of his rank for the Law, and for justice, and for the pure Meal; his property shall be merged and he shall offer his counsel and judgement to the Community.

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Chapter 5

These are the Rules by which they shall judge at a Community (Court of) Inquiry according to the cases

CR 5:1 If one of them has lied deliberately in matters of property, he shall be excluded from the pure Meal of the Congregation for one year and shall do penance with respect to one quarter of his food.

CR 5:2 Whoever has answered his companion with obstinacy, or has addressed him impatiently, going so far as to take no account of the dignity of his fellow by disobeying the order of a brother inscribed before him, he has taken the law into his own hand; therefore he shall do penance for one year and shall be excluded.

CR 5:3 If any man has uttered the Most Venerable Name even though frivolously, or as a result of shock or for any other reason whatever, while reading the Book or praying, he shall be dismissed and shall return to the Council of the Community no more.

CR 5:4 If he has spoken in anger against one of the Priests inscribed in the Book, he shall do penance for one year and shall be excluded for his soul’s sake from the pure Meal of the Congregation. But if he has spoken unwittingly, he shall do penance for six months.

CR 5:5 Whoever has deliberately lied shall do penance for six months.

CR 5:6 Whoever has deliberately insulted his companion unjustly shall do penance for one year and shall be excluded.

CR 5:7 Whoever has deliberately deceived his companion by word or by deed shall do penance for six months.

CR 5:8 If he has failed to care for his companion, he shall do penance for three months. But if he has failed to care for the property of the Community, thereby causing its loss, he shall restore it in full. And if he be unable to restore it, he shall do penance for sixty days.

CR 5:9 Whoever has borne malice against his companion unjustly shall do penance for six months/one year: and likewise, whoever has taken revenge in any matter whatever.

CR 5:10 Whoever has spoken foolishly: three months.

CR 5:11 Whoever has interrupted his companion while speaking: ten days.

CR 5:12 Whoever has lain down to sleep during an Assembly of the Congregation: thirty days. And likewise, whoever has left without reason, an Assembly of the Congregation as many as three times during one Assembly, shall do penance for ten days. But if he has departed whilst they were standing he shall do penance for thirty days.

CR 5:13 Whoever has gone naked before his companion, without having been obliged to do so, he shall do penance for six months.

CR 5:14 Whoever has spat in an Assembly of the Congregation shall do penance for thirty days.

CR 5:15 Whoever has been so poorly dressed that when drawing his hand from beneath his garment his nakedness has been seen, he shall do penance for thirty days.

CR 5:16 Whoever has guffawed foolishly shall do penance for thirty days.

CR 5:17 Whoever has drawn out his left hand to gesticulate with if shall do penance for ten days.

CR 5:18 Whoever has gone about slandering his companion shall be excluded from the pure Meal of the Congregation for one year and shall do penance. But whoever has slandered the Congregation shall be expelled from among them and shall return no more.

CR 5:19 Whoever has murmured against the authority of the Community shall be expelled and shall not return. But if he has murmured against his companion unjustly, he shall do penance for six months.

CR 5:20 Should a man return whose spirit has so trembled before the authority of the Community that he has betrayed the truth and walked in the stubbornness of his heart, he shall do penance for two years. During the first year he shall not touch the pure Meal of the Congregation, and during the second year he shall not touch the Drink of the Congregation and shall sit below all the men of the Community. Then when his two years are completed, the Congregation shall consider his case, and if he is admitted he shall be inscribed in his rank and may then question concerning the Law.

CR 5:21 If, after being in the Council of the Community for ten full years, the spirit of any man has failed so that he has betrayed the Community and departed from the Congregation to walk in the stubbornness of his heart, he shall return no more to the Council of the Community. Moreover, if any member of the Community has shared with him his food or property which . . . of the Congregation, his sentence shall be the same; he shall be expelled.

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Chapter 6

CR 6:1 VIII In the Council of the Community there shall be twelve men and three Priests, perfectly versed in all that is revealed of the Law, whose works shall be truth, righteousness, justice, loving kindness and humility. They shall preserve the faith in the Land with steadfastness and meekness and shall atone for sin by the practice of justice and by suffering the sorrows of affliction. They shall walk with all men according to the standard of truth and the rule of the time. (After 6 days – Barnabas)

CR 6:2 When these are in Israel, the Council of the Community shall be established in truth. It shall be an Everlasting Plantation, a House of Holiness for Israel, an Assembly of Supreme Holiness for Aaron. They shall be witnesses to the truth at the Judgement, and shall be the elect of Goodwill who shall atone for the Land and pay to the wicked their reward. It shall be that tried wall, that precious corner-stone, whose foundations shall neither rock nor sway in their place (Isa 28:16). It shall be a Most Holy Dwelling for Aaron, with everlasting knowledge of the Covenant of justice, and shall offer up sweet fragrance. It shall be a House of Perfection and Truth in Israel that they may establish a Covenant according to the everlasting precepts. And they shall be an agreeable offering, atoning for the Land and determining the judgement of wickedness, and there shall be no more iniquity. When they have been confirmed for two years in perfection of way by the authority of the Community, they shall be set apart as holy within the Council of the men of the Community. And the Interpreter shall not conceal from them, out of fear of the spirit of apostasy, any of those things hidden from Israel which have been discovered by him.

CR 6:3 And when these become members of the Community in Israel according to all these rules, they shall separate from the habitation of ungodly men and shall go into the wilderness to prepare the way of Him; as it is written, Prepare in the wilderness the way of. . ., make straight in the desert a path for our God (Isa 40:3). This (path) is the study of the Law which He commanded by the hand of Moses, that they may do according to all that has been revealed from age to age, and as the Prophets have revealed by His Holy Spirit.

CR 6:4 And no man among the members of the Covenant of the Community who deliberately, on any point whatever, turns aside from all that is commanded, shall touch the pure Meal of the men of holiness or know anything of their counsel until his deeds are purified from all falsehood and he walks in perfection of way. And then, according to the judgement of the Congregation, he shall be admitted to the Council and shall be inscribed in his rank. This rule shall apply to whoever enters the Community.

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Chapter 7

And these are the rules which the men of perfect holiness shall follow in their commerce with one another

CR 7:1 “Every man who enters the Council of Holiness, (the Council of those) who walk in the way of perfection as commanded by God, and who deliberately or through negligence transgresses one word of the Law of Moses, on any point whatever, shall be expelled from the Council of the Community and shall return no more; no man of holiness shall be associated in his property or counsel in any matter at all. But if he has acted inadvertently, he shall be excluded from the pure Meal and the Council and they shall interpret the rule (as follows). For two years he shall take no part in judgement or ask for counsel; but if, during that time, his way becomes perfect, then he shall return to the (Court of) Inquiry and the Council, in accordance with the judgement of the Congregation, provided that he commit no further inadvertent sin during two full years. For one sin of inadvertence (alone) he shall do penance for two years. But as for him who has sinned deliberately, he shall never return; only the man who has sinned inadvertently shall be tried for two years that his way and counsel may be made perfect according to the judgement of the Congregation. And afterwards, he shall be inscribed in his rank in the Community of Holiness.”

CR 7:2 “When these become members of the Community in Israel according to all these rules, they shall establish the spirit of holiness according to everlasting truth. They shall atone for guilty rebellion and for sins of unfaithfulness that they may obtain loving kindness for the Land without the flesh of holocausts and the fat of sacrifice. And prayer rightly offered shall be as an acceptable fragrance of righteousness, and perfection of way as a delectable free-will offering. At that time, the men of the Community shall set apart a House of Holiness in order that it may be united to the most holy things and a House of Community for Israel, for those who walk in perfection. The sons of Aaron alone shall command in matters of justice and property, and every rule concerning the men of the Community shall be determined according to their word.”

CR 7:3 “As for the property of the men of holiness who walk in perfection, it shall not be merged with that of the men of falsehood who have not purified their life by separating themselves from iniquity and walking in the way of perfection. They shall depart from none of the counsels of the Law to walk in the stubbornness of their hearts, but shall be ruled by the primitive precepts in which the men of the Community were first instructed until there shall come the Prophet and the Messiahs of Aaron and Israel.

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Chapter 8

These are the precepts in which the Master shall walk in his commerce with all the living, according to the rule proper to every season and according to the worth of every man

CR 8:1 He shall do the will of God according to all that has been revealed from age to age.

CR 8:2 He shall measure out all knowledge discovered throughout the ages, together with the Precept of the age.

CR 8:3 He shall separate and weigh the sons of righteousness according to their spirit.

CR 8:4 He shall hold firmly to the elect of the time according to His will, as He has commanded.

CR 8:5 He shall judge every man according to his spirit. He shall admit him in accordance with the cleanness of his hands and advance him in accordance with his understanding. And he shall love and hate likewise.

CR 8:6 He shall not rebuke the men of the Pit nor dispute with them.

CR 8:7 He shall conceal the teaching of the Law from men of falsehood, but shall impart true knowledge and righteous judgement to those who have chosen the Way. He shall guide them all in knowledge according to the spirit of each and according to the rule of the age, and shall thus instruct them in the mysteries of marvelous truth that in the midst of the men of the Community they may walk perfectly together in all that has been revealed to them. This is the time for the preparation of the way into the wilderness, and he shall teach them to do all that is required at that time and to separate from all those who have not turned aside from all ungodliness/injustice.

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Chapter 9

These are the rules of conduct for the Master in those times with respect to his loving and hating

CR 9:1 Everlasting hatred in a spirit of secrecy for the men of perdition! He shall leave to them wealth and earnings like a slave to his lord and like a poor man to his master.

CR 9:2 He shall be a man zealous for the Precept whose time is for the Day of Revenge. He shall perform the will of God in all his deeds and in all his dominion as He has commanded. He shall freely delight in all that befalls him and nothing shall please him save God’s will. He shall delight in all the words of His mouth and shall desire nothing except His command. He shall watch always for the judgement of God, and shall bless his Maker for all His goodness and declare His mercies in all that befalls.

CR 9:3 He shall bless Him with the offering of the lips at the times ordained by Him: at the beginning of the dominion of light, and at its end when it retires to its appointed place; at the beginning of the watches of darkness when He unlocks their storehouse and spreads them out, and also at their end when they retire before the light; when the heavenly lights shine out from the dwelling-place of Holiness, and also when they retire to the place of Glory; at the entry of the (monthly) seasons on the days of the new moon, and also at their end when they succeed to one another. Their renewal is a great day for the Holy of Holies, and a sign for the unlocking of everlasting mercies at the beginning of seasons in all times to come.

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Chapter 10

CR 10:1 At the beginning of the months of the (yearly) seasons
and on the holy days appointed for remembrance,
in their seasons I will bless Him
with the offering of the lips
according to the Precept engraved for ever:
at the beginning of the years
and at the end of their seasons
when their appointed law is fulfilled,
on the day decreed by Him
that they should pass from one to the other –
the season of early harvest to the summer time,
the season of sowing to the season of grass,
the seasons of years to their weeks (of years)-
and at the beginning of their weeks
for the season of Jubilee.
All my life the engraved Precept shall be on my tongue
as the fruit of praise
and the portion of my lips.

CR 10:2 I will sing with knowledge and all my music
shall be for the glory of God.
(My) lyre (and) my harp shall sound
for His holy order
and I will tune the pipe of my lips
to His right measure.
With the coming of day and night
I will enter the Covenant of God,
and when evening and morning depart
I will recite His decrees.
I will place in them my bounds without return.

CR 10:3 I will declare His judgement concerning my sins,
and my transgressions shall be before my eyes
as an engraved Precept.
I will say to God, ‘My Righteousness’
and ‘Author of my Goodness’ to the Most High,
‘Fountain of Knowledge’ and ‘Source of Holiness’,
‘Summit of Glory’ and ‘Almighty Eternal Majesty’.
I will choose that which He teaches me
and will delight in His judgement of me.

CR 10:4 Before I move my hands and feet
I will bless His Name.
I will praise Him before I go out or enter,
or sit or rise,
and while I lie on the couch of my bed.
I will bless Him with the offering
of that which proceeds from my lips
from the midst of the ranks of men,
and before I lift my hands to eat
of the pleasant fruits of the earth.
I will bless Him for His exceeding wonderful deeds
at the beginning of fear and dread
and in the abode of distress and desolation.
I will meditate on His power
and will lean on His mercies all day long.
I know that judgement of all the living
is in His hand,
and that all His deeds are truth.
I will praise Him when distress is unleashed
and will magnify Him also because of His salvation.

CR 10:5 I will pay to no man the reward of evil;
I will pursue him with goodness.
For judgement of all the living is with God
and it is He who will render to man his reward.
I will not envy in a spirit of wickedness,
my soul shall not desire the riches of violence.
I will not grapple with the men of perdition
until the Day of Revenge,
but my wrath shall not turn from the men of falsehood
and I will not rejoice until judgement is made.
I will bear no rancor
against them that turn from transgression,
but will have no pity
on all who depart from the way.
I will offer no comfort to the smitten
until their way becomes perfect.

CR 10:6 I will not keep Satan within my heart,
and in my mouth shall be heard
no folly or sinful deceit,
no cunning or lies shall be found on my lips.
The fruit of holiness shall be on my tongue
and no abominations shall be found upon it.
I will open my mouth
in songs of thanksgiving,
and my tongue shall always proclaim
the goodness of God and the sin of men
until their transgression ends.
I will cause vanities
to cease from my lips,
uncleanness and crookedness
from the knowledge of my heart.

CR 10:7 I will impart/conceal knowledge with discretion
and will prudently hedge it within a firm bound
to preserve faith and strong judgement
in accordance with the justice of God.
I will distribute the Precept
by the measuring-cord of the times,
and . . . righteousness
and loving kindness towards the oppressed,
encouragement to the troubled heart
and discernment to the erring spirit,
teaching understanding to them that murmur
that they may answer meekly
before the haughty of spirit
and humbly before men of injustice
who point the finger and speak of iniquity
and who are zealous for wealth.

CR 10:8 As for me,
my justification is with God.
In His hand are the perfection of my way
and the uprightness of my heart.
He will wipe out my transgression
through His righteousness.

CR 10:9 For my light has sprung
from the source of His knowledge;
my eyes have beheld His marvelous deeds,
and the light of my heart, the mystery to come.
He that is everlasting
is the support of my right hand;
the way of my steps is over stout rock
which nothing shall shake;
for the rock of my steps is the truth of God
and His might is the support of my right hand.

CR 10:10 From the source of His righteousness
is my justification,
and from His marvelous mysteries
is the light in my heart.
My eyes have gazed
on that which is eternal,
on wisdom concealed from men,
on knowledge and wise design
(hidden) from the sons of men;
on a fountain of righteousness
and on a storehouse of power
on a spring of glory
(hidden) from the assembly of flesh.
God has given them to His chosen ones
as an everlasting possession,
and has caused them to inherit
the lot of the Holy Ones.
He has joined their assembly
to the Sons of Heaven
to be a Council of the Community,
a foundation of the Building of Holiness,
and eternal Plantation throughout all ages to come.

CR 10:11 As for me,
I belong to wicked mankind,
to the company of ungodly flesh.
My iniquities, rebellions, and sins,
together with the perversity of my heart,
belong to the company of worms
and to those who walk in darkness.
For mankind has no way,
and man is unable to establish his steps
since justification is with God
and perfection of way is out of His hand.
All things come to pass by His knowledge;
He establishes all things by His design
and without Him nothing is done.

CR 10:12 As for me,
if I stumble, the mercies of God
shall be my eternal salvation.
If I stagger because of the sin of flesh,
my justification shall be
by the righteousness of God which endures for ever.
When my distress is unleashed
He will deliver my soul from the Pit
and will direct my steps to the way.
He will draw me near by His grace,
and by His mercy will He bring my justification.
He will judge me in the righteousness of His truth
and in the greatness of His goodness
He will pardon all my sins.
Through His righteousness he will cleanse me
of the uncleanness of man
and of the sins of the children of men,
that I may confess to God His righteousness,
and His majesty to the Most High.

CR 10:13 Blessed are You, my God,
who opens the heart of Your servant to knowledge!
Establish all his deeds in righteousness,
and as it pleases You to do for the elect of mankind,
grant that the son of Your handmaid
may stand before You for ever.

CR 10:14 For without You no way is perfect,
and without Your will nothing is done.
It is You who has taught all knowledge
and all things come to pass by Your will.
There is none beside You to dispute Your counsel
or to understand all Your holy design,
or to contemplate the depth of Your mysteries
and the power of Your might.

CR 10:15 Who can endure Your glory,
and what is the son of man
in the midst of Your wonderful deeds?
What shall one born of woman
be accounted before You?
Kneaded from the dust,
his abode is the nourishment of worms.
He is but a shape, but molded clay,
and inclines towards dust.
What shall hand-molded clay reply?
What counsel shall it understand?

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Dead Sea Scrolls

The Messianic Rule (1QSa=1Q28a)

The War Rule (1QM, 4QM)

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

The Damascus Document

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

The Community Rule (1QS)

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10