01 May 2002

Prophecies of the Essene Brotherhood

Hearken unto me, my people, And give ear unto me! Lift up thine eyes to the heavens, And look upon the earth beneath: For the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, And the earth shall wax old like a garment, And they that dwell therein Shall die in like manner: But my Kingdom shall be for ever, And my Law shall not be abolished. And in that day hell shall enlarge herself, And open her mouth without measure: And the glory, the pride and the pomp of the wicked Shall descend into it. And the mean man shall be brought down, And the mighty man shall be humbled As the fire devoureth the stubble, And the flame consumeth the chaff; So their root shall be as rotteness, And their blossom shall go up as dust. Because they have cast away The Holy Law of the Heavenly Order, And despised the word of the Children of Light. And in that day, one will look unto the land And behold only darkness and sorrow, And the light in the heavens shall be darkened. The leaders of the people shall cause them to err, And they that are led of them shall be destroyed. For every one is an hypocrite and an evil doer, And every mouth speaketh folly. Wickedness burneth as the fire: It shall devour the briars and thorns. It shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, And shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke. Through the wrath of the Law Shall the land be darkened, For this hath man wrought upon himself. And the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: No man shall spare his brother. Woe unto them that have kept not the Holy Law! Woe unto the crown of pride! Woe unto those who lust after the things of the world, And corrupt themselves with wrongdoing, Who err in vision, and stumble in judgment: For they are a rebellious people, a lying people, People who will not hear the Law of the Lord: Which say to the seers, see not, And to the Prophets, prophesy not unto us right things, But speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits. Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, And that write grievousness which they have prescribed. Woe unto them that join house to house, That lay field to field, Till there be no place that a man may be alone In the midst of the earth! Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, Not to commune with the Angels, But to follow strong drink, and continue until night, Till the fumes of the wine inflame them! Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil, That put darkness for light, and light for darkness. Woe unto them That turn aside the needy from judgment, And take away the right from the poor, That make of widows their prey, and rob the fatherless! Wherefore it shall come to pass That the hand of the Lord shall lop the bough With the judgment of the Law, And the high ones of stature shall be hewn down And the haughty shall be humbled. Howl ye, for the day of the Law is at hand; It shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, And every man's heart shall melt. And they shall be afraid: Pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; They shall be in pain as a woman that gives birth: They shall be amazed one at another: Their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh Cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate: And he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. It shall come to pass in that day, That the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones, And the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, As prisoners are gathered in the pit, And shall be shut up in the prison. And the Lord shall come forth out of his place, And will come down, And tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be molten under him, And the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, As the waters pour down a steep place. Then the moon shall vanish, and the sun be obscured. And the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof Shall not give their light: The sun shall be darkened in its going forth, And the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And the Lord will shake the heavens, And the earth shall remove out of her place, In the day of the wrath of the Law, In the day of the fierce anger of the Lord. And the shining cities shall be laid waste, And wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; The hay shall wither away, the grass shall fail, And in all the earth there shall be no green thing. In that day shall the strong cities Be as a forsaken bough, And a tempest of hail Shall sweep away the refuge of lies, And the angry waters Shall overflow the hiding place of the -wicked. And there shall be upon every high mountain, And upon every high hill, Rivers and streams Of waters In the day of the great slaughter, When the towers fall. in that day shall the light of the moon Be as the light of the sun, And the light of the sun shall be sevenfold. Behold, the name of the Law cometh from far, Burning with hot anger, And the burden thereof is heavy: The lips of the Lord are full of indignation, And his tongue is as a devouring fire. He shall show the strength of his arm, With the flame of consuming fire, With scattering, and tempest, and hailstones. The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled, For the sons of men have turned away from the Law. The city of confusion is broken down: Every house is shut up, that no man may come in. There is a crying and wailing in the streets: All joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone. And it shall come to pass, That he who fleeth from the noise of the fear Shall fall into the pit; And he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit Shall be taken in the snare: For the windows from on high are open, And the foundations of the earth do shake. The earth is utterly broken down, The earth is clean dissolved, The earth is moved exceedingly. Then the moon shall be confounded, The sun shall be ashamed, And the earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, And shall fall, and shall not rise again. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, And the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: And all their host shall fall down, As the leaf falleth off from the vine, And as a falling fig from the fig tree. The waters shall fail from the sea, And the rivers shall be wasted and dried up. Streams Of water shall be turned into pitch, And the dust thereof into brimstone, And the land thereof shall become burning pitch. And the smoke shall not be quenched by night or day, And no man shall pass through it. But the cormorant and the bittern Shall possess the land; The owl also and the raven shall dwell in it. And there shall stretch out upon it The line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, But none shall be there, And all her princes shall be nothing. And thorns shall come up in her palaces, Nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof., And it shall be an habitation of dragons, And a court for owls. The ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly, And the highways shall lie waste. The glory of the forests shall be consumed, And the fruitful field; Yea, the trees shall be so few, That a child may count them. Behold, the day shall come, That all that is in the earth, And all that which thy fathers have laid up in store, Shall be carried up in smoke, For ye have forgotten thy Heavenly Father And thy Earthly Mother, And ye have broken the Holy Law. oh that thou wouldst rend the heavens, That thou wouldst come down, That the mountains might flow down at thy presence When thy hand showed forth the power of thy Law Thou camest down in fury: The mountains flowed down at thy presence, And the melting fires bumed. Behold thou art wroth, for we have sinned. We are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, Whose waters cast up mire and dirt. We trust in vanity, and speak lies; Our feet run to evil, Wasting and destruction are in our paths. We grope for the wall like the blind, We stumble at noon day as in the night, We are in desolate places as dead men. But now, O Heavenly Father, thou art our father: We are the clay, and thou our potter, And we are all thy people. Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Thy forests are consumed, All thy earth is a desolation. Our holy and beautiful house Where our fathers praised thee, Is burned up with fire. Even the ancient lore of our Father Enoch Is trampled in the dust and ashes. And I beheld the earth, and, lo, It was without form, and void; And the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, And all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, And all the birds of the heavens I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, And all the cities thereof were broken down At the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger. For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; Yet will I not make a full end. Behold, the hand of the Law is not shortened, That it cannot save; Neither is the ear of the Law heavy, That it cannot hear: From out of the desert shall I bring forth a seed, And the seed shall be planted In the Garden of the Brotherhood, And it shall flourish, And the Children of Light shall cover the barren land With tall grass and trees bearing fruit. And they shall build the old waste places: They shall repair the waste cities The desolations of many generations. They shall be called the repairers of the breach, And the restorers of paths to dwell in. They shall be a crown of glory on the head of the Lord And a royal diadem in the hand of the Law. The wilderness and the solitary place Shall be glad for them, And the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, And rejoice even with joy and singing. The eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped Then shall the lame man leap as an hart And the tongue of the dumb shall sing For in the wilderness shall waters break out, And flowing streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, And the thirsty land springs of water. And an highway shall be there, and a way, And it shall be called the Way of the Law: The unclean shall not pass over it, But it shall be for the Children of Light To cross over the Eternal River unto the hidden place Where standeth the Tree of Life. And the children of men shall return to the earth, And come unto the Infinite Garden With songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: They shall obtain joy and gladness, And sorrow and sighing shall flee away, And it shall come to pass in the last days, That the mountain of the Lord's house Shall be established in the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all the sons of men of the earth shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, 'Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the tabernacle of the Holy Law, And the Holy Angels will teach us of the ways of the Heavenly Father And the Earthly Mother, And we will walk in the paths of the righteous' For out of the Garden of the Brotherhood Shall go forth the Law, And the word of the Lord from the Children of Light. And the Lord shall judge among the nations, And shall rebuke many people: And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks: Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war any more. Hear the voices of the Brothers, Which cry aloud in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Law! Make straight in the desert a highway for our God! Every valley shall be exalted, And every mountain and hill shall be made low: And the crooked shall be made straight, And the rough places plain: And the voice of the Heavenly Father shall be heard: I, even I, am the Law; and beside me there is no other. Yea, before the day was I am he: And there is none that can deliver out of my hand. Hearken unto me, O Children of Light! I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, And my right hand hath spanned the heavens. Hearken unto me, O Children of Light! Ye that know righteousness, My children in whose hearts is my Law: Ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: The mountains and the hills Shall break forth before you into singing, And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Arise, shine, O Children of Light! For my Light is come upon thee, And thou shalt make the Glory of the Law To rise upon the new earth!