FIRST BOOK OF THE FIRST LORDS.
BEING CONTEMPORARY WITH THE BOOK OF SETHANTES, SON OF JEHOVIH. THAT IS TO SAY, ASSETHANTES WAS GOD OF HEAVEN, SO IN THE SAME PERIOD OF TIME HIS LORDS HAD DOMINIONON THE EARTH. AND THIS IS THEIR BOOK, EVEN AS THE PROCEEDING ONE WAS GOD’S BOOK.
CHAPTER I.
1. In the beginning God created the heavens of the earth; and the Lord made man upright. And man was naked and not ashamed; neither knew man the sin of incest, but he dwelt asthe beasts of the field.
2. And the Lord brought the angels of heaven to man; by his side took they on forms likeunto man, having all the organs and attributes of mortals, for it was the time of the earthfor such things to be.
3. And it came to pass that a new race was born on the earth, and these were called I'hins,because they were begotten of both heaven and earth. Hence it became a saying: Theearth conceived of the Lord.
4. And the name of the first race was Asu (Adam), because they were of the earth only;and the name of the second race was I'hin (Abel), because they were capable of beingtaught spiritual things.
5. And the Lord said: Of all that live on the face of the earth, or in the waters thereof, orin the air above, that breathes the breath of life, man only have I delivered untoknowledge of his Creator.
6. And the Lord spake unto the I'hin, through his angels spake he to them, saying: Go hidethy nakedness, for it is the commandment of God.
7. And The I'hins were afraid, and they clothed themselves, and were no longer nakedbefore the Lord.
8. And the Lord commanded the angels to give up their forms, and to be no more seen asmortals. And it was done. And the Lord said unto them: Because ye brought forth life,which is in flesh and blood, ye shall minister unto man for six generations on the face ofthe earth. And it was so.
9. And that man may continue to walk upright, ye shall teach him the law of incest, forman of himself cannot attain to know this.
10. Neither shall ye permit the I'hins to dwell with Asu (Adam), lest his seed go down indarkness.
11. And man was thus inspired of the Lord, and he walked upright, and prospered on theearth.
12. But after a season man became conceited in his own judgment, and he disobeyed thecommandments of God.
13. And he strayed out of the garden of paradise and began to dwell with the asu'ans(Adams), and there was born into the world a new race called Druk (Cain), and they hadnot the light of the Father in them, neither could they be inspired with shame, nor ofheavenly things.
14. And the I'hins were grateful to the Lord, and they gave sacrifice in burnt offerings. And they said unto the Druks: Go ye and sacrifice unto the Lord, and he will prosper you. But the Druks understood not; and they fell upon the Lord's chosen, and slew them, rightand left, taking their possessions.
15. And the Lord said unto the Druks: Because ye have slain your brethren ye shall departout of the place of God; and that ye may be known to the ends of the earth I put my markupon you.
16. And the mark of the Lord put upon the Druks was the shadow of blood, which, beinginterpreted, isWAR.
17. And the Lord God said: By this sign shall the tribes of Druk and their descendents beknown unto the end of the world.
18. And woman, being more helpless than man, cried out with fear, saying: O Lord, howshall I bring forth unto thee, and not unto the sons of death?
19. And the Lord said: Because thou hast brought forth in pain, and yet called onmy name, behold I will be unto thee as a shield and protector. For I will also put amark upon the I'hins, my chosen, so thou shalt know them when they come unto thee.
20. And the Lord commanded the male I'hins, old and young, to be circumcised, thatwoman might not be deceived by the druks. And the I'hins circumcised one another, oldand young; for it was the testimony of the Lord unto woman that seed of their seed wasborn to everlasting life.
21. And the druks (Cain) went away into the wilderness, and dwelt with the asu'ans andwith one another.
22. God said: A boundary line will I make betwixt the tribes of druks and the I'hins; andthis is the line that I the Lord God make betwixt them:
23. The I'hins shall labor and clothe themselves, and I will abide with them; butthe druks shall wander in the wilderness, neither laboring nor clothing themselves.
24. And it was so.
CHAPTER II.
1. The time of the habitation of Asu was eight thousand years; and they survived twothousand years after the time of the birth of the I'hins, which is to say: Asu dwelt on theearth six thousand years, and then conceived of the chosen of God; and after that survivedyet two thousand years.
2. And Asu (Adam) disappeared off the face of the earth.
3. And there remained on the earth the sacred people, the I'hins; and the carnivorouspeople, the druks.
4. The I'hins were white and yellow, but the druks were brown and black; the I'hins weresmall and slender, but the druks were tall and stout.
5. Now, because the druks had not previously obeyed the Lord, but went and dweltwith the asu'ans, there was a half-breed race born on the earth, called Yak,signifying ground people; and they burrowed in the ground like beasts of the forest. And the Yaks did not walk wholly upright, but also went on all fours.
6. God said: Because the Yaks cannot be taught the crime of incest, behold they shall notdwell forever on the earth. So also shall it be with the druks, save wherein they cohabitwith the I'hins, whose seed is born unto everlasting life. But with the druks, and theirheirs that spring from the Yaks, there shall be an end, both in this world and the next.
7. And the arms of the Yaks were long, and their backs were stooped and curved. And theLord said: Because they are the fruit of incest, and not capable of speech, nor of eternallife in heaven, the I'hins shall make servants of them.
8. And that they may not tempt my chosen to bring forth fruit unto destruction, they shallbe neutralized in my sight. And the angels of God taught the I'hins to make eunuchs of theYaks; of the males and females made the I'hins eunuchs of the Yaks, and took them forservants.
9. And the Lord said: The Yaks shall serve the I'hins, and build and sow and reap forthem. And it was so.
10. The I'hins were disposed to live alone, but the Lord called them together, saying: Come and dwell together in cities. For it is meet that ye live after the manner of mykingdoms in heaven.
11. Build ye therefore unto the Lord your God; and my angels shall dwell with you,teaching you to sing and dance for the glory of your Creator.
12. And man built unto the Lord, and established worship on earth after the manner ofheaven.
13. Now it came to pass that the druks came to witness the rites and ceremonies of thechosen, but they took no part therein, neither comprehended they the meaning thereof.
14. And God said unto the I'hins: That ye may teach some of them of the Lord your God,build ye within the house of worship an image of me; in likeness of man build ye it. And Iwill manifest unto as many as are capable of everlasting life.
15. And the I'hins, men and women, with their servants, built images of stone and clayand wood unto the Lord, and stood them by the altars of sacrifice.
16. And in the time of worship, the angels of the Lord came and possessed the idols andspake therefrom, with audible voices spake before mortals.
17. And the druks inquired of the I'hins as to the cause thereof. And the I'hins said: Behold, there is a God in heaven, more subtle than the air of heaven. He it was thatbrought us forth out of darkness. He speaketh in idol that ye may know he abideth withhis people.
18. The druks said: What saith he? The I'hins answered, saying: That whosoever hathattained to remember God is in the way of everlasting life.
19. The druks inquired, saying: How shall a man live forever? Behold, ye that believealso die!
20. The I'hins answered, saying: As the voice of the Lord is unseen but potent, so is therea spirit in man unseen and potent, which shall never die, but ascend to heaven tohabitations prepared by the Lord.
21. And many of the druks pondered on these things, and their thoughts quickened theirsouls within them, so that they brought forth heirs unto eternal salvation.
22. And the Lord said unto the I'hins: Because ye have done a good thing, go ye abroad,by the roadsides and in other places, and build images unto me and mine, and my angelsshall bestow gifts and signs and miracles.
23. And the I'hins covered the roadways of the earth over with idols of stone and woodand clay, and the angels of heaven descended to the idols and established thereaboutheavenly kingdoms.
24. And when man came hither, and called on the name of the Lord, it was as a passwordfor the angels; and they wrought miracles, and otherwise gave evidence unto man of theUnseen.
CHAPTER III.
1. And God gave commandments unto man, that the earth might be a place of rejoicingforever. And these are the commandments of the Lord God as given in that day:
2. Thou shalt strive to remember the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
3. Thou shalt not kill man, nor beast, nor bird, nor creeping thing, for they are the Lord's.
4. Thou shalt build walls round about thy cities, that beasts and serpents may not enterand do thee harm. And if thy habitation be in the wilderness, thou shalt build mounds ofwood and earth to sleep on at night, that serpents and beasts may not molest thee.
5. The I'hins inquired of the Lord, saying: If we build walls around about our cities, howshall we get in and out? How shall we gather our harvests of fruit and nuts and seeds ofthe field? How shall we ascend on the mounds which we build in the wilderness?
6. The Lord said: Behold, my angels shall teach you to build ladders and how to use them. And when ye go into the city at night ye shall take the ladders in after you; and when yecome out in the morning ye shall let the ladders down again.
7. And God's angels taught the chosen these things, and man provided the cities withladders, and he provided the mounds with ladders also; according to the commandment ofGod were these things done.
8. And the I'hins prospered and spread abroad over the face of the earth; hundreds ofthousands of cities and mounds built they, and they rejoiced in the glory of all createdthings. Neither killed they man, nor beast, nor fish, nor bird, nor creeping thing thatbreathed the breath of life.
9. And God saw that man was good and grateful in all things; and God called unto theangels of heaven, saying: Why are the I'hins good? For, as yet, they are ignorant!
10. And the angels answered, saying: Because thou saidst unto us: Go ye, as guardianangels, and inspire man to live without evil, even so have we administered unto the I'hins,guarding and inspiring them night and day.
11. God said: Why then, the I'hins have no honor. Except they learn of themselves to begood, they will be void of wisdom in heaven. For this reason ye shall withdraw a little,that man be tried as to his self-commandment.
12. And the angels withdrew awhile from the I'hins. And now it came to pass, that theyhad stored in their cities and on their mounds ample provision of food and raiment for thewinter; but the druks followed not the example of the I'hins, for the druks stored upnothing.
13. And when the angels departed a little way, evil spirits came to the druks, and saidunto them: Behold, it is winter, and ye are hungry. Go ye over the ladders and possess thestores of the I'hins.
14. And the druks plundered the I'hins; and evil spirits sat upon the I'hins also, and manyof them were inspired to defend their stores. And war ensued; and it spread around aboutthe whole earth.
15. And the I'hins besought the Lord as to why God suffered evil to come upon hischosen.
16. And the Lord said: Because ye depended upon me for all things, ye developed notyourselves. Henceforth shall man learn to face evil on his own account; otherwise hecould not attain to the Godhead in heaven.
17. Two entities hast thy Creator given thee, that which is flesh, and that which is spirit. And the flesh shall desire earthly things; but the spirit shall desire heavenly things.
18. Behold, when the druks came upon thee for thy stores, thy flesh cried out WAR,andthy people fell.
19. Again have I come to thee to raise thee up; to make thee understand the spirit within. It is that, and not the flesh, which shall learn to triumph.
20. The I'hins said: Our people are scattered and gone; will they not mingle with thedruks, and thus go out in darkness?
21. The Lord said: Behold there were druks who had learned a little from the images; nowbecause thy people are scattered and gone, they shall go amongst the druks and teach thelaw of incest and the name of God, and they shall also begin to hide their nakedness.
22. So the Lord inspired other people besides the I'hins, to make and wear clothes, andthey thus wore them.
23. And again the Lord brought the I'hins together in lodges and cities, and he said untothem: Henceforth ye shall live upon the earth as an example of righteousness. And yourbrethren who have mingled with the tribes of darkness shall no longer molest you, but beyour defenders and protectors.
24. And there began to be a new tribe on the earth; and they were called I'huans, becausethey were half-breeds, betwixt the druks and I'hins. The I'huans were red like copper; andthey were taller and stronger than any other people in all the world. And the Lordcommanded the I'huans, saying:
25. Protect ye the I'hins, the little people, white and yellow; call them THESACRED PEOPLE. For ye are of them, and ye are also of the Lord your God. And it was so.
