1. ABRAHAM inquired of God concerning the peoples of the kings and of the Faithists. And God said: Whoever I lead to thee shall be thine; thou shalt henceforth be father to all men and women and children that are thine. And they shall be thy family. But all other peoples shall not be thine; nor shalt thou be to them a father nor a prophet. Neither shalt thou make laws for the kings' peoples; nor laws betwixt thy people and them. Of thine own people shalt thou be, and for thine own people shalt thou be forever.
2. Nor shall thy people have anything in common with the kings' peoples, nor with any other people under the sun. Nor enter into treaties, nor alliances, nor in any way whatsoever. Both thy labor and the labor of thy people are for Jehovih, through the Lord thy God.
3. But touching the intercourse betwixt thine and the kings' peoples, be circumspect to the value of a fraction in buying and selling, to give the full value. Neither suffer my chosen to accept presents, or otherwise to become obligated to other peoples, for it is the law of thy God. For it shall not be said by the kings' peoples: Behold, I made them!
4. For I say unto thee, neither kings nor rich men make the people of thy God.
5. Whosoever would give thee gifts, let him quit his people and come and dwell with my people in person and spirit. I cannot be put off with money and with gifts, like a peevish child or a wanton woman.
6. Shall a man say: Here are gifts for thy God, he is a good enough God! But as for my soul it is too good to give to thee or thy God.
7. Neither shalt thou suffer thy people to marry with the kings' peoples, for the same reason. But whosoever will marry my daughters, let him come and dwell, first with my people, proving that he hath forsaken all the idolatrous gods for Jehovih's sake. It shall be the same of thy sons; if they desire strange damsels or wives, they shall first bring them to dwell one year amongst my chosen.
8. Abraham inquired concerning government. And God said unto Abraham: To teach people to dwell together in peace, order, harmony and love; being disciplined to these, what more is required? Government belongeth to the kings' peoples.
9. Abraham said: That I have spoken before thee, O God, teach thou me, for I am as one in the dark cellar groping about? Behold. my people are unlearned!
10. God said: Who is learned? I say unto thee, he who knoweth the stars and the rocks, and the mountains and valleys, and all that is living and dead, and the tongues of the ancients, but knoweth not the Creator, is unlearned. But he that knoweth the Creator is learned indeed.
11. Better is it that thy people dwell in tents and under trees; and their children roll on the ground, and die not, but grow strong in person and in spirit for the glory of the Creator, than to dwell as the kings' peoples, in magnificent cities, and in lust and death. Before thy God, thy people are a most learned people.
12. Abraham inquired of the Lord concerning servitude. And God answered him, saying: There is but one Master, even Jehovih; thy people shall be His servants only. But all people have loves; a damsel saith to her lover: I will be thy servant, and he marrieth her. A man saith to another: Thy judgment is greater than mine; I will be thy servant. And the man taketh him in love to work for him.
13. Therefore, for convenience sake, thou mayst say, master and servant. Nevertheless, my chosen shall not, in fact, have either masters or servants, for the one shall not have authority over the other but by love and free consent.
14. Abraham asked concerning the products of labor. God said unto p. 335b Abraham: Even as I have said of servants and masters, so also is it of the productions that come out of the earth. Nothing belongeth to any man, for all things are Mine, saith the Creator.
15. Nevertheless, for convenience sake, thou mayst say: This is his product, or that is such an one's product. But still he holdeth it only by his Creator's consent.
16. Let all men render unto the Creator His creations, for they are Jehovih's. After that, Abraham said: Some men grow flax, and some wool, and some corn; but the seasons bring forth not alike unto all. Others spin and weave; and others make butter and cheese. And yet this happeneth also: One man is strong, another weak; one riseth with the sun and toileth all day; another sitteth on the bank, fishing.
17. Now when the products are brought in, lo and behold, there are no two that are equal.
18. And God said: Every man's matter is betwixt him and his Creator. According to diligence and industry He rewardeth them in the end. He that perceiveth this, knoweth his heavenly Father; he that perceiveth it not, dwelleth in darkness.
19. Abraham said: Shall the lazy be rebuked, and they that shirk be upbraided?
20. And God said: Nay. Let all thy people bring their products and cast them before thee, saying: This is my sacrifice unto Jehovih; distribute thou it. And if some bring not anything, neither rebuke them nor pity them; they are the sons and daughters of thy God. And if some decorate themselves with fine raiment, or jewels, censure them not; thy God searcheth their hearts.
21. Abraham asked concerning lands. God said: Consider thy God. Did I go to the king and to the rich man and say: Give thou me thy sons and daughters? Nay, but I went to them that were despised by the rich, and by the king, and I said: Come ye! and they came.
22. And when thou wert come hither, did I say: Take thou the king's lands, or the rich man's? Nay, but I led thee to that which was neglected and waste in the eyes of the kings' peoples, and I said: This is thy inheritance.
23. Sufficient is it for thee and thy people to buy burying-places for the dead, which shall not be disturbed. But of all other lands, neither buy nor sell.
24. And after thy people have improved a place, and a king cometh against thee, saying: Either by purchase or by battle, I will have this land; thou shalt say: Nay, neither by purchase nor by battle, shalt thou inherit that which is Jehovih's. But if thou desirest the land, then will I give it thee without money and without battle.
25. And it shall come to pass upon my chosen that they shall be driven from place to place, whither I will lead them; and they shall make the waste lands to bloom like gardens, and the deserts to yield ample harvests; for they shall dig wells, and till the soil, and prove unto the nations of the earth the glory of thy works.
26. And they shall be cut down and driven away, and scattered, but I will come and gather them together. Their places shall be inherited by idolators and worshippers of strange gods, who will build mighty temples. But my people shall not build in stone, nor wood, nor iron, that shall endure; for they shall go from place to place, proclaiming me and my works; but where they have been, there shall be nothing left on the earth to show their labors.
27. But when I have taken them across all the earth, and they are scattered as dust before the wind, and no man can say: Here is a nation of the children of Abraham, lo. I will raise up my voice for them, even I, the God of heaven and earth. And in that day the idolators and worshippers of strange Gods will be on the wane; their temples of stone and mortar will still be standing.
28. But a voice shall go up from the whole earth, even from the far-off nations of the earth, saying: What of them who laid the foundations of the temple of ONE GOD, EVEN JEHOVIH! Who were the sons and daughters of Abraham! O that mine eyes could have beholden the Faithists of that!