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Dead Sea Scrolls

The books of the Dead Sea Scrolls

The Damascus Document

From the Dead Sea Scrolls in English


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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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).”

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.”

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)”

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.”

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.

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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 . . .”

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 . . .”

The Community Rule (1QS)


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.

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.

Chapter 3

V  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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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