Community Rule

Community Rule

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For the Instructor, to teach all the sons of light concerning the order of the Community, that they may seek God with the whole heart and with the whole soul, and do what is good and upright before him, as he commanded through Moses and through all his servants the prophets; that they may love everything he has chosen and hate everything he has rejected; that they may keep far from every evil and hold fast to every good work; that they may practice truth, righteousness, and justice in the land; that they may no longer walk in the stubbornness of a guilty heart or in eyes of lust, doing every evil thing; that they may bring all who freely offer themselves to do God’s statutes into a covenant of steadfast love; that they may be joined in the counsel of God and walk before him in wholeness and truth according to all that has been revealed for their appointed times; and that they may love all the sons of light, each according to his lot in the counsel of God, and hate all the sons of darkness, each according to his guilt in the vengeance of God.

All who freely offer themselves for his truth shall bring all their knowledge, strength, and possessions into the Community of God, so that their knowledge may be purified by the truth of his statutes, their strength ordered according to the perfection of his ways, and their possessions administered according to his righteous counsel. They shall not depart in any matter from any word of God in its appointed time. They shall not advance any sacred season or delay any appointed festival. They shall not turn aside from his true statutes, either to the right or to the left.

All who enter the order of the Community shall pass into the covenant before God, promising to do according to all that he commanded and not to turn away from following him through fear, terror, trial, or dread of the dominion of Belial. When they enter the covenant, the priests and Levites shall bless the God of salvation and all his works of truth, and all who enter the covenant shall answer, “Amen, amen.”

The priests shall recount the righteous deeds of God in his mighty works, and they shall proclaim all his steadfast mercies toward Israel. The Levites shall recount the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their guilty rebellions and sins under the dominion of Belial. All who enter the covenant shall confess after them, saying:

“We have acted perversely. We have rebelled, sinned, and dealt wickedly, we and our ancestors before us, by walking contrary to the statutes of truth. God is righteous in all that has come upon us and upon our ancestors. From ancient times he has shown us his merciful judgments.”

Then the priests shall bless all the men of God’s lot who walk blamelessly in all his ways, saying:

“May he bless you with every good thing and keep you from every evil. May he enlighten your heart with the understanding of life and favor you with eternal knowledge. May he lift upon you the countenance of his favor for everlasting peace.”

The Levites shall curse all the men of Belial’s lot, saying:

“Cursed are you because of all your guilty wickedness. May God deliver you up to terror through the hand of all who execute vengeance. May he visit you with destruction through all who repay what is deserved. Cursed are you without mercy according to the darkness of your deeds, and condemned in the gloom of everlasting fire. May God not favor you when you call, nor forgive you to cleanse your iniquity. May he lift the face of wrath against you for vengeance, and may there be no peace for you in the mouth of any who hold to the fathers.”

All who enter the covenant shall answer after those who bless and those who curse, saying, “Amen, amen.”

The priests and Levites shall continue, saying:

“Cursed is the man who enters this covenant while setting up the stumbling block of his iniquity within himself, so that he may turn away from God. When he hears the words of this covenant he blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘Peace will be mine, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.’ His spirit, thirsty with sin, shall be swept away without forgiveness. God’s wrath and his zeal for his judgments shall burn against him to everlasting destruction. All the curses of this covenant shall cling to him. God will separate him for evil, and he shall be cut off from the midst of all the sons of light because he turned away from following God through his idols and the stumbling block of his iniquity. He shall place his lot among those cursed forever.”

All who enter the covenant shall answer and say, “Amen, amen.”

Thus shall they do year by year, all the days of Belial’s dominion. The priests shall enter first in order according to their spirits, one after another; then the Levites shall enter; and all the people shall enter third, one after another, in their thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, so that every man of Israel may know his standing in the Community of God according to the eternal counsel. No one shall move down from his appointed place or rise up from his assigned position, for all shall be in a Community of truth, humble goodness, lovingkindness, righteous purpose toward one another, and obedience to the counsel of holiness as companions in an everlasting fellowship.

But whoever refuses to enter the covenant of God, choosing instead to walk in the stubbornness of his heart, shall not be admitted into the Community of his truth. His soul has despised the instruction of knowledge and has not strengthened himself to turn from iniquity; therefore he shall not be counted among the upright. His knowledge, strength, and possessions shall not enter the counsel of the Community, for he plows in the mire of wickedness and impurity is in his repentance. He shall not be justified while he follows the stubbornness of his heart. He regards darkness as paths of light. He shall have no place among the perfect. He shall not be cleansed by acts of atonement, nor purified by waters of cleansing, nor sanctified by seas or rivers, nor washed by any water. Unclean, unclean he shall be all the days that he rejects God’s judgments and refuses to be instructed in the Community of his counsel.

For by the spirit of God’s true counsel the ways of a man are atoned, all his iniquities being removed, so that he may behold the light of life. By a holy spirit united with his truth he is cleansed from all his iniquities. By a spirit of uprightness and humility his sin is atoned. By humbling his soul before all God’s statutes his flesh is purified, when he is sprinkled with cleansing water and sanctified by waters of repentance. Then he shall establish his steps to walk perfectly in all God’s ways, as he commanded for the appointed times of his testimonies, turning neither to the right nor to the left and transgressing none of his words. Then he shall be accepted through pleasing atonement before God, and it shall become for him a covenant of an everlasting Community.

For the Instructor, to explain and teach all the sons of light concerning the nature of all the children of humankind, according to every kind of spirit in their signs, according to their deeds in their generations, and according to the visitation of their punishments and the appointed times of their peace.

From the God of knowledge comes all that is and all that shall be. Before they existed he established their whole design, and when they came into being they fulfilled their work according to his glorious plan, without change. In his hand are the laws of all things, and he sustains them in all their purposes.

He created humankind to rule the world and appointed for each person two spirits in which to walk until the time of his visitation: the spirits of truth and falsehood. From a spring of light come the generations of truth, and from a source of darkness come the generations of falsehood. In the hand of the Prince of Lights is dominion over all the sons of righteousness; they walk in paths of light. In the hand of the Angel of Darkness is all dominion over the sons of falsehood; they walk in paths of darkness. Through the Angel of Darkness all the sons of righteousness go astray, and all their sins, iniquities, guilt, and rebellious deeds are under his dominion according to the mysteries of God until his appointed time. All their afflictions and the appointed times of their distress are under the rule of his hostility, and all the spirits of his lot seek to make the sons of light stumble. But the God of Israel and the angel of his truth help all the sons of light.

God created the spirits of light and darkness and founded every deed upon them, every service upon their ways. One of the spirits God loves for all ages, and with all its deeds he is pleased forever. The counsel of the other he hates, and he despises all its ways forever.

These are the ways of the spirit of truth in the world: enlightening a man’s heart, making straight before him all the ways of true righteousness, and placing the fear of God within his heart; a spirit of humility, patience, abundant compassion, everlasting goodness, understanding, discernment, and mighty wisdom that trusts in all the works of God and rests upon his great mercy; a spirit of knowledge in every plan of action, zeal for righteous judgments, holy purpose with steadfast resolve, abundant love toward all the sons of truth, a purity that hates all unclean idols, humble conduct with insight in everything, and concealment of the truth’s mysteries. These are the counsels of the spirit for the sons of truth in the world.

The visitation of all who walk in this spirit shall be healing, abundant peace in length of days, fruitful offspring with every everlasting blessing, eternal joy in life without end, and a crown of glory with a garment of majesty in everlasting light.

But these are the ways of the spirit of falsehood: greed, slackness in serving righteousness, wickedness and lying, pride and haughtiness, deceit and fraud, cruelty and much hypocrisy, impatience and abundant folly, arrogant zeal, abominable deeds in a spirit of lust, filthy ways in the service of impurity, a blaspheming tongue, blindness of eyes, dullness of ears, stiffness of neck, and hardness of heart, so that a person walks in all the ways of darkness and evil cunning.

The visitation of all who walk in this spirit shall be an abundance of plagues through the hand of all the angels of destruction, everlasting perdition by the wrath of an avenging God, eternal terror and endless disgrace with the shame of destruction in the fire of dark regions. All their times from generation to generation shall be spent in sorrowful mourning and bitter calamity, in the disasters of darkness, until they are destroyed without remnant or survivor.

In these two spirits are the origins of the nature of all the children of humankind, and in their divisions all their hosts receive their inheritance throughout their generations. In their ways they walk, and all the reward of their deeds, according to each person’s portion, whether great or small, is for all ages. God has set the spirits in equal measure until the final appointed time, and he has established everlasting hostility between their divisions. Falsehood abhors truth, and truth hates all the ways of falsehood. Their rivalry is fierce in every judgment, for they do not walk together.

But God, in the mysteries of his understanding and in his glorious wisdom, has appointed an end for the existence of falsehood. At the time of visitation he will destroy it forever. Then truth shall arise in the world forever, for the world has been defiled in the ways of wickedness during the dominion of falsehood until the appointed judgment. Then God will purify by his truth all the deeds of a man and refine for himself some from humankind, removing every spirit of falsehood from within his flesh and cleansing him by a holy spirit from every wicked deed. He will sprinkle upon him a spirit of truth like cleansing water, to cleanse him from all abominations of falsehood and from wallowing in a spirit of impurity, so that he may instruct the upright in the knowledge of the Most High and teach the perfect of way the wisdom of the sons of heaven. For God has chosen them for an everlasting covenant, and all the glory of Adam shall be theirs. There shall be no more falsehood, and all the works of deceit shall be put to shame.

Until now the spirits of truth and falsehood contend in the heart of a man. He walks in wisdom and folly. According to a man’s inheritance in truth and righteousness, so he hates falsehood; and according to his share in the lot of falsehood, so he acts wickedly and abhors truth. God has appointed them in equal measure until the determined end and the new creation. He knows the reward of their deeds through all the ages, and has given them as an inheritance to the children of humankind so that they may know good and evil and so that the lot of every living being may be determined according to his spirit in the appointed visitation.

This is the rule for the men of the Community who freely offer themselves to turn away from every evil and to hold fast to all that God commanded according to his good pleasure: they shall separate from the congregation of the men of falsehood and become a Community in law and possessions, answering to the authority of the sons of Zadok, the priests who keep the covenant, and to the majority of the men of the Community who hold fast to the covenant. According to their decision every matter of law, property, and judgment shall be determined.

They shall practice truth and humility together, righteousness and justice and lovingkindness, walking modestly in all their ways. No one shall walk in the stubbornness of his heart, going astray after his heart, his eyes, or his evil inclination. Together they shall circumcise the foreskin of their inclination and stiff neck, establishing a foundation of truth for Israel, for the Community of the eternal covenant. They shall atone for all who freely offer themselves to holiness in Aaron and for the house of truth in Israel, and for those who join them in the Community. They shall contend together in judgment against all who transgress a statute.

These are their ways in all their dwelling places. Every man who enters the counsel of the Community shall pass into the covenant of God in the presence of all who freely offer themselves. He shall bind himself by an oath to turn to the Law of Moses according to all that God commanded, with all heart and all soul, according to all that has been revealed from it to the sons of Zadok, the priests who keep the covenant and interpret his will, and according to the multitude of the men of their covenant who together freely offer themselves for his truth and to walk according to his will. He shall bind himself by the covenant to separate from all the men of falsehood who walk in the way of wickedness, for they are not counted in his covenant. They have not sought him nor examined his statutes to know the hidden things in which they have acted faithlessly. They have insolently treated the revealed things, stirring up judgment for wrath and bringing vengeance through the curses of the covenant, so that great judgments cleave to them for everlasting destruction without remnant.

No one shall enter water to partake of the pure meal of the men of holiness unless he has turned from his wickedness, for he is unclean among all who transgress his word. No one shall associate with him in labor or possessions, lest he burden him with guilt. Instead he shall keep far from him in every matter, for it is written, “Keep far from every false thing.” No one among the men of the Community shall follow their counsel or judgment in any matter. He shall not eat of anything that belongs to them, nor drink from it, nor take anything from their hand without payment, as it is written, “Cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for of what account is he?” All who are not counted in his covenant shall be separated, they and all that belongs to them. A holy man shall not rely upon any work of vanity, for vanity are all who do not know his covenant. All who despise his word God will destroy from the earth, and all their deeds are impurity before him, and all their possessions are unclean.

When a man enters the covenant to act according to all these statutes and to join the holy congregation, they shall examine his spirit together, each according to his understanding and deeds in the Law, under the authority of the sons of Aaron who freely offer themselves in the Community to establish his covenant and to oversee all the statutes he commanded, and under the authority of the majority of Israel who freely offer themselves to return in the Community to his covenant. They shall be recorded in order, one before another, according to each man’s understanding and deeds, so that each may obey his companion, the lesser obeying the greater.

They shall examine their spirit and deeds year by year, promoting a man according to his understanding and perfection of way, or lowering him according to his wrongs. Each shall rebuke his companion in truth, humility, and lovingkindness. No one shall speak to his brother in anger or with murmuring, with stiff neck or with a jealous spirit of wickedness. He shall not hate him in the stubbornness of his heart. On the same day he shall rebuke him, and shall not bear guilt because of him. No one shall bring a charge against his companion before the many unless he has first reproved him before witnesses.

In this way they shall conduct themselves in every place where they dwell. The lesser shall obey the greater in work and property. Together they shall eat, together they shall bless, and together they shall take counsel. In every place where there are ten men of the counsel of the Community, a priest shall not be absent. They shall sit before him according to their rank, and in that order they shall be asked for counsel in every matter. When they set the table to eat or prepare wine to drink, the priest shall first stretch out his hand to bless the first portion of bread and wine.

In every place where there are ten, there shall not be absent a man who studies the Law day and night continually, each relieving another. The many shall keep watch together for a third of every night of the year, reading the book, studying judgment, and blessing together.

This is the rule for the session of the many. Each shall sit according to his rank. The priests shall sit first, the elders second, and the rest of the people shall sit according to their rank. In that order they shall be asked for judgment, counsel, and every matter brought before the many, so that each man may state his knowledge before the counsel of the Community. No one shall speak in the midst of another man’s words, before his brother has finished speaking. Neither shall he speak before one whose rank is recorded before his own. The man asked shall speak in his turn.

In the session of the many no one shall speak anything without the consent of the many, nor even the Guardian of the many. If anyone has something to say to the many but is not in a position to ask counsel, he shall rise to his feet and say, “I have something to say to the many.” If they tell him to speak, he shall speak.

Anyone from Israel who freely offers himself to join the counsel of the Community shall be examined by the Guardian at the head of the many concerning his understanding and deeds. If he is fit for discipline, the Guardian shall bring him into the covenant to turn to the truth and depart from all falsehood, and shall instruct him in all the ordinances of the Community. Afterward, when he comes before the many, everyone shall be asked concerning his matter. According to the decision of the counsel of the many he shall be admitted or rejected.

If he is admitted to the counsel of the Community, he shall not touch the pure meal of the many until they have examined his spirit and deeds for a full year, nor shall he share in the property of the many. When he has completed a year within the Community, the many shall be asked concerning his matter with regard to his understanding and deeds in the Law. If the lot determines that he is to draw near to the assembly of the Community under the authority of the priests and the majority of the men of their covenant, his property and his earnings shall be placed in the hand of the man who oversees the earnings of the many. He shall record them to his account, but they shall not be spent for the many.

He shall not touch the drink of the many until he completes a second year among the men of the Community. When he has completed the second year, they shall examine him by questioning the many. If the lot determines that he is to be admitted to the Community, they shall record him in the order of his rank among his brothers for law, judgment, the pure meal, and the sharing of his property. Then the Community shall have his counsel and judgment.

These are the judgments by which they shall judge in the Community according to each matter.

If a man is found among them who has knowingly lied concerning property, he shall be excluded from the pure meal of the many for one year and shall be punished by reducing one fourth of his food.

Whoever answers his companion with stubbornness, speaking impatiently and rejecting the instruction of his brother, and thereby rebels against the order of the man recorded before him, shall be punished for one year.

Whoever mentions the most honored Name on any occasion—whether because of fear, distress, or for any other reason—while reading the book or blessing, shall be expelled and shall never return to the counsel of the Community.

Whoever speaks in anger against one of the priests recorded in the book shall be punished for one year and separated from the pure meal of the many, eating alone. But if he spoke unintentionally, he shall be punished for six months.

Whoever knowingly lies shall be punished for six months.

Whoever knowingly insults his companion shall be punished for one year and separated.

Whoever speaks with his companion deceitfully or knowingly defrauds him shall be punished for six months.

Whoever negligently causes loss to the property of the Community shall repay it in full. If he is unable to repay, he shall be punished for sixty days.

Whoever bears a grudge against his companion without cause shall be punished for six months, or for one year according to the matter.

Whoever takes vengeance for himself in any matter shall be punished for one year.

Whoever speaks foolish words shall be punished for three months.

Whoever interrupts his companion’s words shall be punished for ten days.

Whoever lies down and sleeps in the session of the many shall be punished for thirty days. The same applies to a man who leaves the session of the many without permission and without cause as many as three times in one session: he shall be punished for ten days. If they are standing and he leaves, he shall be punished for thirty days.

Whoever walks before his companion while naked when he need not be shall be punished for six months.

Whoever spits into the midst of the session of the many shall be punished for thirty days.

Whoever brings his hand out from under his garment when it is torn and his nakedness is seen shall be punished for thirty days.

Whoever laughs foolishly, making his voice heard, shall be punished for thirty days.

Whoever brings out his left hand to gesture with it shall be punished for ten days.

Whoever slanders his companion shall be separated for one year from the pure meal of the many and shall be punished. But whoever slanders the many shall be expelled from among them and shall never return.

Whoever murmurs against the authority of the Community shall be expelled and shall not return. But if he murmurs against his companion unjustly, he shall be punished for six months.

If a man’s spirit wavers from the foundation of the Community so that he betrays the truth and walks in the stubbornness of his heart, but afterward repents, he shall be punished for two years. In the first year he shall not touch the pure meal of the many. In the second he shall not touch their drink, and he shall sit behind all the men of the Community. When he completes two full years, the many shall be asked concerning his matter. If they admit him, he shall be recorded in his rank and afterward asked for judgment.

Any man who has been in the counsel of the Community for ten full years and whose spirit turns away so that he betrays the Community and departs from the presence of the many to walk in the stubbornness of his heart shall never again return to the counsel of the Community. Any man of the Community who associates with him in his purity or property, which he has placed in the hand of the many, shall receive the same judgment: he shall be expelled.

In the council of the Community there shall be twelve men and three priests, perfect in everything revealed from the whole Law, to practice truth, righteousness, justice, lovingkindness, and modest conduct, each with his companion; to preserve faith in the land with steadfast purpose and broken spirit; to atone for guilt by doing justice and bearing the trials of refinement; and to walk with all according to the standard of truth and the regulation of the time.

When these exist in Israel, the council of the Community shall be established in truth as an everlasting planting, a holy house for Israel, and a foundation of the Holy of Holies for Aaron: witnesses of truth for judgment and chosen by divine favor to atone for the land and to repay the wicked their due. It shall be the tested wall, the precious cornerstone whose foundations do not shake or flee from their place. It shall be a most holy dwelling for Aaron, with everlasting knowledge of the covenant of justice, offering a pleasing fragrance, and a house of perfection and truth in Israel, to establish the covenant according to everlasting statutes.

When they are established, they shall separate from the dwelling of the men of falsehood and go into the wilderness to prepare there the way of the Lord, as it is written, “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” This is the study of the Law which he commanded through Moses, to do according to all that has been revealed from age to age, and according to what the prophets revealed through his holy spirit.

No man of the covenant of the Community who openly turns aside from any commandment shall touch the pure meal of the men of holiness, nor shall he know any of their counsel until his deeds are purified from all falsehood and he walks perfectly. Then, according to the decision of the many, he shall be admitted to the counsel, and afterward he shall be recorded in his rank. This rule shall apply to every man admitted to the Community.

When these are established as a Community in Israel according to these regulations, they shall be separated from the midst of the dwelling of the men of falsehood to become a Community in the Law and possessions, answerable to the authority of the sons of Zadok, the priests who keep the covenant, and to the authority of the majority of the men of the Community who hold fast to the covenant. According to their decision every matter of law and property shall be determined. They shall practice humility and righteousness and justice, lovingkindness and modest conduct in all their ways.

No one shall walk in the stubbornness of his heart. No one shall follow his heart, his eyes, or his evil inclination. They shall circumcise together the foreskin of their inclination and stiff neck and establish a foundation of truth for Israel, for the everlasting covenant. They shall atone for all who freely offer themselves to holiness in Aaron and for the house of truth in Israel, and for those who join them in the Community. They shall be tested in judgment against all who transgress a statute.

When these things are in Israel, the council of the Community shall be established in truth as an everlasting planting. It shall be a holy house for Israel and a council of the Holy of Holies for Aaron, witnesses of truth for judgment and chosen by favor to atone for the land, to render to the wicked their recompense. It shall be the tested wall, the precious cornerstone. Its foundations shall not tremble nor flee from their place.

In the time appointed for judgment, the council of the Community shall be separated as a holy house for Aaron, united in the Holy of Holies, and as a house of Community for Israel, those who walk in perfection. The sons of Aaron alone shall rule in judgment and property, and according to their word the lot shall be cast for every decision of the men of the Community.

The property of the men of holiness who walk perfectly shall not be mixed with the property of the men of falsehood who have not purified their way to separate from wickedness and walk in perfection of way. They shall not depart from any counsel of the Law to walk in all the stubbornness of their heart, but shall judge by the first statutes in which the men of the Community began to be instructed until the coming of the prophet and the messiahs of Aaron and Israel.

These are the statutes for the Instructor, according to which he shall walk with every living person, according to the regulation of every time and the value of each man. He shall do the will of God according to all that has been revealed for every time. He shall learn all the wisdom that has been found according to the times, and the statute of the time. He shall separate and weigh the sons of righteousness according to their spirits. He shall hold fast to the chosen of the time according to God’s will, as he commanded. He shall judge every man according to his spirit and admit him according to the purity of his hands, bringing him near according to his understanding. In this way shall his love and his hatred be.

He shall not dispute or quarrel with the men of perdition. He shall conceal the counsel of the Law among the men of falsehood. He shall reprove with true knowledge and righteous judgment those who choose the way, each according to his spirit and according to the regulation of the time. He shall guide them in knowledge, and in this way instruct them in the wondrous mysteries and truth among the men of the Community, so that they may walk perfectly together, each with his companion, in everything revealed to them.

This is the time for preparing the way into the wilderness and for instructing them in all that has been found to be done in this time. They shall separate from every man who has not turned his way from all wickedness.

These are the regulations of conduct for the Instructor in these times concerning his love and his hatred: everlasting hatred with a spirit of concealment toward the men of perdition, leaving them wealth and the labor of hands, like a slave before the one ruling him and humility before the one who has authority over him. But he shall be a man zealous for the statute and whose time is for the day of vengeance. He shall do the will of God in all the works of his hands and in all the dominion that belongs to him. He shall delight freely in all that God has appointed, and shall desire no pleasure except according to God’s will.

In every appointed period he shall delight in the judgments of God, and in every matter that comes upon him he shall bless his Maker. Whatever exists, he shall recount according to its truth. He shall bless him with the offering of the lips at the appointed times that he established: at the beginning of the dominion of light, at its turning when it is gathered into its appointed dwelling; at the beginning of the watches of darkness, when he opens his storehouse and sets darkness upon the earth; at its turning and withdrawal before the light; when the luminaries shine from the holy dwelling; when they are gathered into the glorious abode; at the appointed seasons of the months according to their changes; at their turning from one to another; at the renewal of the year and at the completion of its divisions according to their appointed rule; at their appointed days, one after another; at the beginning of the months and at the appointed seasons of holy days for remembrance in their appointed times.

With the offering of the lips I shall bless him according to the statute engraved forever: at the beginning of the years and at the turning of their appointed times; when the statute is fulfilled and its place is determined, one after another; at the season of harvest for summer, and at the appointed season of seed for spring; at the appointed seasons of the years and at the weeks of their appointed times; and at the beginning of their weeks for the season of release.

As long as I live, the engraved statute shall be on my tongue as the fruit of praise and the portion of my lips. 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 the flute of my lips shall lift up the measure of his righteousness.

At the beginning of day and night I will enter the covenant of God, and when evening and morning depart I will repeat his statutes. While they exist I will set my boundary in them without turning away. I will declare his judgment concerning my transgressions, and my sin shall be before my eyes as an engraved statute.

I will say to God, “My righteousness,” and to the Most High, “The foundation of my goodness, the spring of knowledge and the fountain of holiness, the height of glory and the strength of everlasting majesty.” I will choose what he teaches me and delight in his judgment upon me.

Before I move my hands and feet I will bless his Name. Before I go out and before I enter, before I sit and before I rise, while I lie upon my bed I will rejoice in him. I will bless him with the offering that proceeds from my lips from the place where people gather. Before I lift my hand to satisfy myself with the pleasant fruits of the earth, I will bless him. When fear and terror come, and in the place of distress and desolation, I will bless him for wondrous deeds. I will meditate upon his power and rely upon his mercies all day long.

I know that judgment of all living is in his hand, and all his works are truth. When distress is opened I will praise him, and when he saves me I will also rejoice. I will repay no one with the recompense of evil. With goodness I will pursue a man, for judgment of all living is with God, and he will repay a man his due.

I will not envy in a spirit of wickedness. My soul shall not desire violent wealth. I will not seize what my heart desires. My delight shall not be in the abundance of possessions. I will not contend with the men of perdition until the day of vengeance, but my anger shall not turn away from the men of falsehood, and I will not be content until judgment is established.

I will not keep wrath against those who turn from transgression, but I will have no mercy on all who depart from the way. I will not comfort the crushed until their way is perfect. Belial I will not keep in my heart. No folly shall be heard from my mouth. No deceit or fraud shall be found upon my lips. The fruit of holiness shall be upon my tongue, and abominations shall not be found there.

With thanksgiving I will open my mouth, and my tongue shall always recount the righteousness of God and the treachery of men until their transgression is complete. I will remove worthless speech from my lips and impurity and crookedness from the knowledge of my heart.

With wise counsel I will conceal knowledge, and with prudent understanding I will enclose it with a firm boundary, to preserve faith and strong judgment according to God’s righteousness. I will distribute the statute by a measuring line for every time and righteousness by a plumb line for every appointed season, to distinguish the sons of righteousness according to their spirits and to uphold the chosen of the time according to his will, as he commanded.

I will judge every man according to the measure of his spirit and admit him according to the purity of his hands. According to his understanding I will bring him near, and according to his folly I will distance him. My zeal shall be according to righteousness, and my hatred according to judgment. I will not reprove a man of destruction in the midst of his wickedness, but I will conceal the instruction of the Law from the men of falsehood. I will reprove with knowledge and righteous judgment those who choose the way, each according to his spirit and according to the regulation of the time, and I will guide them in knowledge.

I will not turn back from any statute of God, nor exchange his judgments for the stubbornness of my heart. I will not walk in the way of my heart’s evil inclination. I will take pleasure in the Law with a faithful heart, and before I err I will set my boundary by the knowledge of God.

For from the source of his knowledge he opened my light, and my eye has beheld his wonders and the light of my heart the mystery that is to come. The One who is forever is the support of my right hand. The way of my steps is over mighty rock which nothing can shake. God’s truth is the rock of my steps, and his strength is the support of my right hand.

From the source of his righteousness is my judgment. From his wondrous mysteries is the light in my heart. My eye has gazed upon that which is eternal, upon wisdom hidden from humankind, knowledge and prudent understanding concealed from the children of men, a source of righteousness and a gathering of strength, together with a dwelling of glory, hidden from the assembly of flesh.

God has given these things as an everlasting possession to those he has chosen. He has given them a share in the lot of the holy ones, and has joined their assembly with the sons of heaven in the council of the Community, a foundation of the building of holiness, an everlasting planting through all future ages.

As for me, I belong to wicked humankind and to the counsel of perverse flesh. My iniquities, rebellions, and sins, together with the perversity of my heart, belong to the counsel of worm-eaten flesh and to those who walk in darkness. A man does not establish his way, nor can a human being make firm his steps. Judgment belongs to God, and from his hand comes perfection of way.

By his knowledge all things came into being, and by his purpose he establishes everything that exists. Without him nothing is done. If I stumble, God’s mercies are my salvation forever. If I fall through the iniquity of flesh, my judgment is in the righteousness of God which stands forever. If my distress is opened, he delivers my soul from the pit and makes my steps firm in the way. Through his compassion he brings my judgment near. By his righteousness he judges me, and through the abundance of his goodness he atones for all my iniquities.

By his righteousness he cleanses me from the impurity of a human being and from the sin of the children of humankind, so that I may praise God for his righteousness and the Most High for his majesty.

Blessed are you, my God, who opens the heart of your servant to knowledge. Establish all his deeds in righteousness. Raise up the son of your handmaid as you are pleased among those chosen from humankind, to stand before you forever.

Without you no way is perfect and nothing is done. You taught all knowledge and brought into being all that exists according to your purpose. Apart from you there is no one who can answer your counsel or understand all your holy design, or gaze upon the depth of your mysteries and the wonders of your strength.

Who can contain your glory? What is a human being among your wondrous works? One born of a woman, what can he be counted before you? He is shaped from dust, and his food is the bread of worms. He is kneaded clay and returns to dust. What can clay answer, and what can one formed by hand understand?

But I, a creature of clay, have known through the spirit you placed within me. I have heard your wondrous secret through your holy spirit. You have opened within me knowledge of the mystery of your wisdom, the source of your might. What is flesh that it should understand these things? What is a creature of dust that it should grasp your great wonders?

You have chosen them for your covenant and made them stand before you forever. You have purified them by your truth and appointed them for the lot of holiness. You have joined them with the sons of heaven, and their assembly is with the council of the holy ones. Everlasting joy is theirs, and life without end.

I will bless your Name among all who know you, and in the midst of all who hold fast to your truth I will recount your wonders. For from your hand comes every perfect thing, and without your will nothing exists. You formed the spirit of humankind within him and know all his deeds before they are done.

You have established the righteous for the appointed time of your favor and the wicked for the day of your vengeance. You have set a boundary for every spirit and a measure for every deed. Nothing is hidden from you, and no thought is concealed from your eyes.

Therefore I will bow down and seek mercy for my sins and the perversity of my heart. I will stand in the station you appointed for me, and I will wait for your salvation. I will not trust in flesh, nor rely upon the strength of humankind. My refuge is in your righteousness and my hope in your abundant mercies.

You will not abandon the work of your hands. You will not forget the covenant of your truth. You will raise the poor from the dust and lift the needy from the ashes, to make him stand with the princes and inherit a throne of glory.

To you belongs righteousness, and to us shame of face. Your judgments are truth and your ways are perfect. Blessed are you, God of knowledge, who establishes all things by your purpose and completes all according to your glorious design.

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