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One of the thieves Melchizedek judged to be the leader was cut into two equal pieces starting from the top of his head. Another thief was decapitated. This was sufficient to convince the other three robbers to flee.

It was not Melchizedek's purpose to kill them. only to stop the commision of the crime, and simultaneously establish his credentials with Abram and Terah. Abram came before Melchizedek and sank to his knees. but Melchizedek bade him to ruse and said, "Abram, son of Terah, go forth from your father's house and from your kinfolk to the land of canaan. there Bat-El will make of you a nation, and he shall bless you, and your name will be great among men. He shall bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you, and all the earth shall find blessing in you.

"Those are the words of Bat-El the Most High God, lord of all the earth. What say you to these things, Abram of Harran?"

And Abram lifted his eyes to him and said, firmly, "No." It took Melchizedek a moment to comprehend what Abram said, as it was so unexpected. Abram rose to his feet then and walked over to his father, where he took him gently by the arms and undertook to explain his rejection of Bat-El's command.

He said, "my father is crippled. He does not earn enough at his livelihood to support himself. We do not always agree, but as I love my life, I can never turn aside from my own father for all the days he is a wayfarer in this world."

Then Abram fulfilled the purpose of his visit and delivered to his father two living lambs from his own flocks, one to kill and eat, and the other to sell for a little money to buy the things he needed until the next time Abram came in from the open range and visited him.

Melchizedek nodded in understanding. He restowed his gold and they quietly left the shop, careful not to tread on the fortress of dignity that Abram had asserted with his refusal.

Melchizedek departed Harran and took the left-hand fork to Nineveh, and thence by stages to sumeria, even to the largest city in the world, Ur, at the mouth of the euphrates, with nearly seventy thousand souls. In all his travels on Earth he never met anyone like Abram, yet it was not the last time they met. When Abram's father Terah died Melchizedek was sent to Earth once more to complete his errand and bring Abram into a covenant relationship with Bat-El.