TCD

At the command of his  father King Melchiyahu of  Salem, Prince Melchizedek was sent  to the  other world  to test  whether men could remain loyal  to an  eloah with  only a  trace of  direct contact between them. He brought the  Killing Relic,  a weapon made by the hands of Elyon himself, that he  might be protected in his quest. No weapon was  remotely like  it. When it was brandished, the Killing Relic bore unmistable witness that Elyon was not a mere  figment like  the gods  that multiplied  in the imagination of the men of Earth.

The prince rose to the surface  of Lake Tana with  his supplies packaged in a  clever way  to keep  them dry. He decanted his comestibles on the shore of the  lake and moved them  to a raft made from  trees  he  felled and  shaped  with  Killing  Relic. Melchizadek also had a  quantity of  gold on  hand to  trade to replenish with local goods what stock he consumed.

From the mouth of the lake the river flowed thirty miles to the Blue Nile  falls,  where  Melchizedek  was  forced  to  abandon his raft and  build  another one  below  the cataract. Further downstream he negotiated  the  rapids of  the  upper Blue  Nile gorge, held to be unrunnable by the locals.

When he was safely below the rapids, Melchizedek sat in the raft and drifted through deserts  with no  potable water  except the river he floated on. He passed water beasts and human onlookers who dared not  approach. At length he  floated into  the place where the Blue Nile merged  with the  White Nile to  become the Nile river proper. It was much warmer in this part of Earth than in Kemen and it took many days for Melchizedek  to put the heat in the back of his mind so he could sleep without a struggle.

In a town on the lower  Nile delta Melchizedek traded  his raft and some gold  for  camels  and supplies  to  make an  overland journey. His ultimate destination was  the marshy lands  far to the east were the Euphrates  and Tigris rivers meandered through marshlands and silt islands before merging with the sea.

As he was commanded, Melchizedek remained alert for any man who would suit the purposes of Bat-El. Rather than taking a direct path across the Empty Quarter, Melchizedek journeyed north-east through the fields  and towns  of Canaan  and Lebanon  until he reached the town  of Harran where the Damascus  road forked with the road to Nineveh.

In the marketplace Melchizedek encountered a man  who had grown disgusted with the variety of  religious practices in  his home city of Ur. He was in engaged in a loud argument with his father and by overhearing all this, the prince learned  the man's name was Abram.

Abram was a  successful sheep  and cattle  rancher who  lived a semi-nomadic  life on  the  rangelands around  Harran while  his father lived in the town  itself and  ran a shop  selling items associated with the  worship  of multitudous  gods. Terah sold carved idols for dozens of  different gods, all of  which Abram complained were absolutely meaningless to him.

He said to Terah, "Father, you  cut down cedars and  oaks which the real  creator planted and  also sent  the rain to  grow. You grow cold,  so with part  of your wood you  make a fire  to warm yourself and  bake bread, and from  the other part you  make the image of  a god, then  fall down before  it and say,  'Rescue me from this weather.' And it never  comes into your mind that this deaf and mute block of wood you  carved with your own hands is a complete fraud!"

Melchizedek was interested in this exchange, so  he entered the shop and began to  inspect the  rack of  idols on  display. The angry words of  father  and son  dwindled  to silence,  because Melchizedek was a tall  and striking figure,  and there  was an other worldliness about him that went far beyond mere stranger.

After he  had  made  a  complete tour  of  the  idolatry  shop, Melchizedek begin unpacking his  gold on the  edge of  the shop facing the street,  as  though  he were  preparing  to buy  out Terah's entire stock.

As Melchizedek anticipated, this drew the attention of five men who approached with  swords drawn. They demanded the gold  be handed over to them. At this time the Killing Relic, the weapon fashioned by Bat-El himself, made  its first appearance  in the history of Kemen and Earth. The artifact was the size and shape of any normal sword hilt. But when it was squeezed  firmly in Melchizedek's hands a roaring black  shaft emerged from it which was about the thickness of a spear.

The harder Melchizedek squeezed, the longer the black beam grew, and whatever it touched simply disappeared. Indeed, the reason it made a sound was  that air was drawn  into it all  along the length of the beam.

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 commanded to complete his errand and bring Abram and his  descendants into a covenant relationship with Bat-El.

The covenant was accompanied  with a  name change. Abram meant 'the father is exalted' which  had glorified Terah  rather than his son. In the ritual sealing the covenant Melchizedek changed his name to Abraham, which meant 'father of many nations'.

The Abrahamic Covenant was sealed when Melchizedek took a cow, a goat, and a ram and split their carcasses in two. Then Abraham, his wife, his son, and all his servants passed between them. By this ritual Abraham told  Bat-El, 'If I  ever break  faith with you, may I be cut in half like these animals.'

Previously Abraham's  worship of  Bat-El  had  been a  personal devotion. All of the  interactions had occurred  solely between Abraham and   Elyion  and  were  mediated   through  the  Ophan Melchizedek. Sarah embraced Bat-El because she loved Abraham and she was his  wife. Abraham's servants embraced Bat-El  simply because Abram was their master.

But with  the  introduction  of  circumcision  the  worship  of Bat-El  became  corporate  worship, something  embedded  in  the culture rather than a personal  choice. Even infant males were circumcised. Anyone not circumcised was cut off from the people, so to speak.

But there was a benefit to circumcision not  intended by Samael when he demanded the  practice as his  attempt to  sabotage the testing. Circumcised men were chafed day and night. They lasted longer during lovemaking and that resulted in a  happy lady who was less likely to commit adultery.

When Abraham's son was about fourteen years  of age Melchizedek said to him, "Take now  your son Yishak and  go to the  land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will show to you."

And the countenance of Abraham  fell. At first he searched the face of  Melchizedek, guessing  it  was  a  bad joke. Then he suspected the  Ophan had gone  insane. He was tempted to refuse outright as  he  did  once  before in  Harran. After that  he considered offering a defense of his son.

In the end Abraham remembered the covenant, and his affirmation of loyalty to the one he knew as Bat-El. Melchizidek says this Bat-El now requires the life of his son? So be it. "Let my word be true. I will obey my God, even though I  find his demands to be hateful."

When all was ready Abraham left his flocks grazing on the plains nigh to the coast. There he left his wife and all his servants. With Yishak at his side they were led by Melchizedek east among treeless hills with the Killing Relic as surety against any who would waylay them.

On the first night,  Melchizedek asked Abraham  to look  at the stars and see if he could count them. "So shall your descendants be," said he. There are only four thousand stars visible to the unaided eye but Abraham got the point. Bat-El would bestow upon him much progeny. For his part  Abraham agreed  to have  only Bat-El as God and trust that she would always  do what she said she would do. It was the first covenant made between the divine and the mortal on something of an equal basis.

Abraham possessed many animals and great riches. He was already living in the golden age as far as he was concerned. Abraham was living a full  life and  he accepted  that he  was mortal  like everything else in the world.

The only thing remaining that Bat-El could give Abraham was the assurance that his name and his blood would be carried into the future by a  people who  would  live in  the land  he had  been promised.

Two days and three nights passed but they had seen no game along the way. When they drew near to  Mount Moriah  and Melchizedek pointed out the hill to them. Yishak asked, "Where is the animal for the offering?"

Melchizedek said nothing. Abraham deflected this question, yet he could not bring himself to lie to his  son. He said, rather, "God himself will provide the animal."

Yishak was excited to see what  sort of beast God  was going to bring  for the  sacrifice  and he  ran ahead  up  the hill  with youthful energy. Abraham said to Melchizedek, "When  it is time you will help me restrain my son."

They caught up with the  boy on  the hilltop and  Yishak called out, "Father, there's nothing here!"

Abraham had a length of rope and was tying loops in it. He said, "Join me here son, and help with this." Yishak promptly obeyed his father. Thus distracted, Melchizadek took the opportunity to seize the boy.

Yishak didn't cry out at first because he didn't even understand what was happening until Abraham and Melchizedek had lashed him securely to a  flat  boulder  that would  serve  as the  altar. Abraham would  never forget  his  son's  utter terror  and  the betrayal he must have felt.

After that Abraham didn't need to work up the  will to slay his own son, he was actually in a hurry to do  it. Each instant the helpless Yishak lay in mortal terror of his own  father tore at his heart. Abraham couldn't stand it. Melchizedek was barely in time to restrain him. He shouted, "Enough! Do not harm the boy!" To be certain, Melchizedek used the Killing Relic to cut the lad free once more. Yishak stood at a safe distance and watched his father's face work through a storm of dark emotions.

At length Abraham said, "So. A day of testing?"

Melchizedek nodded in the affirmative. "It is a day that will not  be forgotten  while cold  and heat,  seed-time and  harvest remain. Now  God Most High  knows now you will  withhold nothing from him, not even your only son."

Abraham longed to embrace Yishak but saw how the boy stood well Abraham away. said, "Could there not have been another way?"

Melchizedek said, "It would  be difficult  to explain  the full background of  the controversy, but  know that the enemy  of man has  made  certain  claims  and  God has  chosen  you  and  your descendants to answer them."

Abraham lamented, "What I  dread most of  all is  answering the hard questions of my wife after  Yishak has spoken to her of all this, which he undoubtedly will."

Even as he spoke a  fold-door appeared  on the hilltop  and the crack of a whip was  heard. A ram rushed through  the opening. With one smooth stroke of the Killing  Relic's immaterial black shaft Melchizedek separated the head and body of  the animal as it emerged from the bubble.

Melchizekek stepped inside the bubble  and said to  Abraham, "I will  return  to  Earth  when  Yishak is  of  age  to  have  his own  wife." Then the fold-door  winked  out of  existence  and Melchizedek was gone with it.

True to  his word,  when  Yishak  was  seventeen years  of  age Melchizedek returned to Earth  and journeyed  once more  to the town called Harran in the land of Abraham's kin. There he became acquainted with Bethuel, who was the son of  Milcah. Milcah was the wife of Nahor. And Nahor was Abraham's brother.

In the household  of Bethuel  there dwelt  a young  woman named Rebekah. She was Abraham's great niece,  and therefore Yishak's first cousin once-removed. Eyeing her, Melchizedek told Bethuel it had fallen  to him  to  find a  wife for  Yishak from  among Abraham's kin.

The Ophan could, at need, dispense of  Abraham's entire estate. He had brought as  much as  ten mules could  carry, as  well as precious stones and jewelry from  Kemen itself. All these riches he dangled before the  eyes of Bethuel,  which prompted  him to say,  "Rebekah, will  you go  with this  man?" Thus Rebekah was formally asked to take her place in the epic set in motion when Elyon inserted herself into human history and commanded Abraham to go to the land of Canaan. But the display of wealth did not sway Rebekah. She wanted to know more about Yishak himself.

So Melchizedek spoke to Rebekah  of the time three  years prior when as a boy Yishak feared losing  his life at the  point of a blade. Hy remaining carefully  vague about  the  fact that  hy hymself  had  relayed  the  kill order  from  Elyon,  the  eloah worshiped by Abraham as his deity.

And Melchizedek told  Rebekah  how the  incident caused  Yishak to develop a  more  profound affection  for  his mother,  while deliberately neglecting to tell her  how Yishak in  fact almost never left his  mother's  tent after  he  barely escaped  being sacrificed to his father's god.

The prince used all the statecraft hy had learned at the foot of his father  King  Melchiyahu. Yet Rebekah did  not  make  her decision on the  basis of  Melchizedek's testimony  of Yishak's personal character.

Melchizedek had presented hymself to Rebekah and  her family as courteous,  humble,  and  devout. The gifts  were  obligatory. Something still seemed a bit off, but she decided to proceed on a hunch. She judged Melchizedek to be a good man, for a mere man she thought him to be. To Rebekah it stood to reason  that if this servant  was a good  man (for a simple  servant Melchizedek held hymself  out to be) then  hyz masters, her kin  Abraham and Yishak, must be good men  as well. So she answered her father Bethuel by saying, "I will go."

When Melchizedek returned  to  the oasis  at Beersheba,  Yishak brought Rebekah into his late mother Sarah's tent  and took her as his wife, and he loved her. So was Yishak comforted after his mother's death. Melchizedek, in a  sense, had  provided Yishak with a replacement mother. Rebekah sensed this and felt perhaps a twinge of  regret, but  she was  an honorable  woman who  had assented to the marriage sight unseen.

Then Melchizedek received word  that his father  Melchiyahu had died in his sleep,  making him  the king of  Salem by  right of succession. So Melchizedek bid  farewell to Abraham. He passed out of all knowledge of those  who dwell on Earth,  and he came there not again. The task laid upon him  by his father  to set aside a holy people for Elyon had been fulfilled. In the three and thirtieth year  of the  Covenant Abraham  died and  his son Yishak became High Priest of Bat-El. Yishak begat twin sons and named them Esau and Yakob.

In the three and sixtieth year of the Covenant Yishak died, and this sons buried him  in the  tomb that held  the bones  of his grandfather. Rebekah remained with Esau but Yakob split off his half of his father's livestock  and servants and  departed from the lands north of Mount Nebo where Yishak had grazed his flocks from the time his father Abraham died.

After a time the eloah named Chemosh, who was enfleshed as a lan named Israel, made a journey to the Land of  Promise to see the place with is  own eyes. Israel took little  thought for  his personal safety. Bat-El said Yakob  was  more the  son of  his mother than the  son of  his father,  a man  who preferred  the womanly arts of whispering and plotting to more masculine action on the field of the hunt or battle.

Israel caught up with Yakob one night when he was praying alone amid thick vegetation  near  the place  where  the Zarqa  River merged with the Jordan River. But Israel was not unaware he was followed. When the  stranger approached,  Yakob  assailed  him suddenly and there ensued a bitter fistfight  that changed into an epic wrestling match.

The stranger kept grasping Yakob's clothing to hurl him around, so Yakob shed his clothing and fought entirely in the nude. Then Israel saw how Abraham's grandson bore  the peculiar mutilation that Elyon  had demanded  in  hyz  bid to  sabotage  Chokhmah's experiment.

So Israel had the answer hy had come to  Earth looking for, but there was still the  growing matter of  the ongoing  tussle. As they fought Yakob kept asking, "Who are you?" but Israel refused to say. As the night wore on hy grew  dismayed how Yakob proved to be so tenacious.

Israel wrenched Yakob's  femur out  of its  socket at  the hip, causing intense torment, but Yakob  still refused to  yield. At dawn Israel, a full cubit taller than Yakob and far more bulky, was at the end  of hyz  own resources  and near  exhaustion. Hy commanded Yakob to let hym go.

Yakob said, 'I will not release you until you reveal who you are and bless me.'

His foe said, 'No longer shall men call you  Yakob, but Israel, for you  have  contended  with  gods  and  men,  and  you  have prevailed. You have even wrested my name away, and taken it for your own.'

Then Yakob unhanded the  bruised seraph,  nameless now. He had sufficient dark light banked to  crack open a  fold-door little more than a cubit tall, just enough to wriggle back into Heaven like a maggot,  and he  came never  again any  closer than  the Earth's moon.

Three of Israel's servants found him beaten and unable to stand, with a dislocated hip. Two of them held him  down with  a bit between his teeth while the third popped it back in place. With help he was able  rejoin his  wives but he  walked with  a limp for the rest  of  his  life. Israel would  ponder the  strange nighttime whenever his limp prompted him. Ultimately he drew the conclusion that God Most High had  sent a thrall to  put him to the test even  as his grandfather had been tested  with an order to offer his father Yishak as a human sacrifice..

Israel's twin brother  Esau  continued  in all  the  ways of  a wanderer passed down from his  grandfather Abraham to his father Yishak to himself. He traversed the land with his  people, and his flocks greatly increased. But Israel took his  flocks and went into the hill country between the river and  the sea where few inhabitants dwelt at that particular time.

On a hilltop Israel built an  altar unto God Most  High, and he named that place Beit-El, or House  of God. There Israel and his servants built a courtyard  around the  altar, and  ringed this open area with houses of  mud brick laid on  stone foundations. And the hillside was terraced for crops, and trees were planted bearing olives and fruits,  but the animals  were set  to graze freely nearby.

Israel begat a daughter Dinah,  and he begat sons  Levi, Judah, and Joseph. When he was of age Judah departed  Beit-El with his inheritance of servants and animals. He built the town of Hebron near the tomb of his grandfather.

And Joseph with his inheritance of servants beat down the tower of Rabbah, and the men of that fenced city came out before them, but God dicomfited them before  Joseph with stones of  ice from heaven and Bat-El slew more of the males of  Rabbah than Joseph and his servants did with the edge of the word.

Judah son of Israel took to  wife Mahlah daughter of  Shuah the Canaanite and he begat  a daughter,  Shelomit. And Judah begat Perez, who took to wife Gaba daughter of  Adullam the Gilohite. And Judah built the town of Eltekah after the manner of Beit-El.

Zerah son of  Judah took  to wife  Parah daughter  of Avim  the Janumite. Zerah begat a daughter, Adah, and he begat Zimri, who took to wife Nahaliel dauighter of Holon the Azemite. And Zerah built the town of Baalath after the manner of Beit-El.

Zimri son of  Zerah begat  a daughter,  Michaiah, and  he begat Onam, who took to wife Eglah daughter of Gibrah. The same Zimri smote the Canaanites of Metheg-ammah and subdued them, and took the town out of their hands.

Onam son  of Zimri  begat  a  daughter,  Azubah, and  he  begat Abinadab, who took to wife Maachah daughter of  Shion. The same Abinadab became the first chieftain of the tribe of Judah.

The Judahites built the cities  of Eglon and Lachish,  and they seized the cities  of Jarmuth  and Jebus,  but the  five strong cities of the Philistines that lay on the coast  they could not possess, namely Ashkelon, Gaza, Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron.

The servants of Israel begat  sons and daughters of  their own, but they were free, and the same intermarried with the children of Israel, and they became one  covenant people in the  eyes of God Most High.

Perez son of  Judah  led a  force to  slay  the Canaanites  who inhabited Zephath, and  he killed  of them  a hundred  men. And Hezron son of Perez begat  Jerahmeel, who took to  wife Janohah daughter of Ahijah. And Jarahmeel son of Hezron begat Achar who became chieftain of  the  tribe of  Benjamin. Achar built the cities of Gibeon and Ai, and his Benjaminites seized Jericho and Gilgal. The tribe occupied the high country around Beit-El even as far as the river in the East in the Valley of Salt.

Joseph son of Israel took to  wife Asenath the daughter  of the Egyptian priest Potipherah. Joseph begat a  daughter, Jerusha, and he begat Machir, who  took to  wife Kirjah the  daughter of Eshtemah the Heperite.

Machir son of Joseph  begat a daughter,  Abigail, and  he begat Gilead, who took to wife  Mozah daughter of Jair  the Elephite. And Machir built the town of Beit-Anoth.

Gilead son of Machir  begat a daughter,  Jerioth, and  he begat Jeezer who took to wife Ziklag daughter of Shimron. Gilead and a brigade of men fell upon  the Canaanite city of  Beit-horon and smote three hundred of the defenders in battle.

Jeezer son of  Gilead begat  a daughter,  Keziah, and  he begat Izhar who took to wife Bethuel daughter of Ashan. The same Ishar became the first chieftain of the tribe of Manesseh.

The Manessehites took possession of the coastlands at Dor. They held Tirzah and Gileed nigh to Mount Gilboa, and  all that land from the river north to Megiddo.

But Israel's eldest son Levi remained in Beit-El and was taught all the ways of  the Abrahamic Covenant,  that he  might become priest after the passing of his father. Israel dwelt in Beit-El until the end of his days and he begat more sons and daughters. In the nine and ninetieth year of the Covenant  Israel died and was laid in the cave of Machpelah that housed  the bones of his ancestors.

Then herald of God Most High named Ithuriel, son of Michael and Lilith, came to Levi in Beit-El, commanding him, "Rehearse in my hearing the Ten Words of the Covenant of your fathers."

And Levi said, "God Most High is your God. Serve no other gods. Countenance  no  injustice. Make  no  images.  Crave nothing  of another. Do not  consume blood. Eat no swine.  Eat no shellfish. Every male of  you shall be circumcised. Observe  the yearly Day of Atonement.'

Ithuriel said, "You have  spoken well, for  the same  is carved upon this tablet which was made by the hands of Bat-El himself." And Ithuriel set before Levi a black tablet made  as it were of stone, with letters carved upon it and embossed with gold.

Ithuriel said, "Make  a chest  of wood  for this  Table of  the Covenant and  place it therein that  it may be carried  about to the towns of  the children of Israel. When the  Day of Atonement is at hand,  at sunset, the tablet will sound  a blast like that from a ram's  horn. You and all the people  of Beit-El shall eat no food until the atonement with  God Most High has been made by you the  high priest, and by  the fruit of your  loins who shall become high priest after you. At sunset on the following day you choose a  young bullock  of your  flock and  kill it  before the altar, and you shall of the blood of the bullock and put it upon the chest  of the Covenant with  your finger as a  sin offering, and you shall burn all the fat of the bullock on the altar. Then God himself shall speak to what  man of you is chief priest, and give commandment, and the fast shall be ended, for God Most High shall deem the tenth word of the Covenant to be fulfilled."

And after  delivering  these  commandments  of  God  Most  High Ithuriel departed from Beit-El. Then in the one  hundred seven and twentieth year of the Covenant Levi slept  with his fathers and Kohath became high priest unto God Most High. And the office of high priest passed from father to son.

Becher son of Joseph built the town of Ziph after the manner of Beit-El. And Shelah son of Becher begat Caleb, who  led a large company against Hannathon, and burnt  with fire a third  of the houses in the midst of the city. Caleb's force smote a third of the inhabitants with  the edge  of the  sword, and  scattered a third of the  inhabitants to the surrounding  hills. Caleb begat Azubab who became the first chieftain of the  tribe of Ephraim. The Ephraimites possessed the  hills north  of Beit-El  even to Mount  Ebel and  Mount Gerizim,  and the  Hebrew city  of Shiloh waxed strong, but they did  not lay  seige to Shechem  when the inhabitants of that city paid five talents in gold as tribute to Azubab.

Heman son of Machir built the town of Zior  after the manner of Beit-El. And Jether son of  Heman begat Abishur who  became the first chieftain  of  the  tribe of  Naphtali. The Naphtalites overthrew King Jabin at Hazor  and siezed the cities  of Madon, Shimron, and Achshaph. They occupied all the lands nigh to Mount Merom and  took  tribute  from  all the  towns  north  of  Lake Chinnereth as far  as Kedesh  and  Leshem. But they were  ever assailed by the Amorites from the east.

Seled son of Zimri begat Bezaleel, who became first chieftain of the tribe of Reuben. The Reubenites contended with the Amorite King Shihon of the city of Hesbon for the lands nigh to the Salt Sea under Mount Peor and seized Jahaz and Dibon to the east. To the south lay Ammon, and the western fence was the lands of the Benjaminites.

Helek son of Gilead begat Oren, who became  the first chieftain of the tribe  of Zebulun. Oren strengthened his men,  and led forth many chariots to the valley of Jezreel where they smote a thousand of the city of Shimron, and also drove off much cattle. The Zebulunites took possession of all the surrounding land even unto Mount Carmel.

Ozem son of Shelah begat Uri, who became the first chieftain of the tribe of Simeon. The Simeonites grazed their flocks nigh to Beersheba and built  oasis towns in the wilderness  south of the hill country, yet their  lands were entirely  fenced in  by the tribe of Judah,  and the  Simeonites were  the smallest  of the tribes of the children of Israel.

Dara son of Becher begat  Ahlai, who  built the town  of Ajalon after the manner of Beit-El. Azariah son of Ahlai begat Balah, who became the first chieftain of the tribe of Dan.

And Balah led a  force to  waylay the men  of the  Hula Valley. Balah smote their horses and chariots, and slew the men of Merom with a  great slaughter. But the  Danites  were not  able  to dislodge the inhabitants of Joppa on the sea, nor Ekron with its many olive oil presses, and they built no  cities, but remained camped in tents amid the hills  ranging around the vale  of the river Sorek.

Ahlai son of Dara begat Shimma, who became  the first chieftain of the  tribe  of  Asher. The Asherites seized  the  city  of Achshaph, which name  means sorcery. Shimma named the city anew as Kisson. But the Asherites did not drive  out the inhabitants of Akko on the coast, and their men of war were turned away from the fenced city of Sidon.

Gibeah son of Perez begat Segub, who took to wife Timna daughter of Amad the Ekronite. And Segub son of Gibeah begat Jamin, who became the first  chieftain of  the tribe  of Gad. The Gadites dwelt along the river Jordan  from the  Salt Sea north  to Lake Chinnereth, and their chief cites were Jazer and Succoth on the River Jabbok. Their city of Ramoth-gilead lay furthest  to the east of any possessed by the children of Israel.

Ethan son of  Zerah  begat  Azariah, who  took  to wife  Naarah daughter of  Ashnah. He begat Raddai  who  became  the  first chieftain of  the  tribe  of Issachar. The Issacharites  took possession of the roads and fields of the vale  Jezreel nigh to Mt Tabor  and the Hill  of Moreh, yet  the feet and  chariots of many armies crossed through, and seldom did they know peace.

Once every year, on the Day of Atonement, Bat-El spoke with the high priest under the covenant he  had made with Elyon. In the days of thethe high priest  Zerahiah Bat-El revealed that  on a certain day the Philistines would be swallowed by the Earth, and when the day arrived, the Philistines fell into a sinkhole that appeared under their feet, letting archers quickly slay them to a man.

Zerahiah begat Maraioth, who became  high priest and  the first Judge over  all the  tribes  of  the  children of  Israel. And Maraioth, by  previous  arrangement with  Bat-El,  called  down divine fire upon a host  of Philistines when they  assailed the armies of the children of Israel.

Maraioth begat Amariah, who became  high priest and  judge over all Israel even as his father. Bat-El reheased in the ears of Amariah the  future movements  of enemy commanders,  and Amariah parceled this out to the  chieftains of the tribes. By degrees all of Canaan fell under the sway of the children of Israel.

Amariah begat Ahitub,  who became  high priest  and judge  over Israel. and Bat-El commanded him to build a permanent structure to fulfill his original promise to Abraham of making Canaan the permanent home of his  descendants. Bat-El chose a  rocky hill named Moriah just east of the chief city of the Jebusites which was newly occupied by David, who was the chieftain of the tribe of Judah.

Ahitub begat Zadok, who became high priest and judge over Israel upon the death of  his father. In the sixth year of  the high priesthood of Zadok  the  temple in  Jebus,  or Jerusalem,  was completed by Solomon the son of David, and the chest containing the Table of the Covenant was moved to  the permanent Sanctuary there.

When Ahimaaz, son of Zadok, did not became Judge over Israel in his turn, Jeroboam son of  Nebat of the Ephraimites claimed that he had taken his place, and he had sufficent  men under arms to give this claim the force of a decree.

Jeroboam built up his  capital first at  Shechem in  the saddle between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, but them  moved his court to Penuel east of the Jordan River where Yakob  once fought the seraph Israel to a draw. To stem the flood of people from going down to the new temple in Jerusalem to worship, Jeroboam set up a golden calf at Beit-El. He told everyone it was God Most High, and the feast days for the golden calf were  carefully timed to coincide with the feast days  in Jerusalem. But no descendant of Levi ever attended Jeroboam's cult as priest.

A yan of the B'nei  Elohim named Sabriel came  before Jeroboam, the first such  to  venture  to Earth. The chieftain and  his courtiers saw her as a giantess. She said the image of the calf was a most grievous sin against Bat-El and  gave commandment to have the  idol torn down lest  the House of Jeroboam  come to an end and another  be made Judge over the children  of Israel. But Jeroboam grew angry at this and ordered Sabriel  to depart from his presence. Jeroboam did  not remove  the  golden  calf  at Beit-El. And after that  his hand  withered such  that Jeroboam held it under concealment for the rest of his  days, which were not long in number.

Then Jeroboam died and  his son  Nadab ruled  as Judge  for two years from the city of Samaria. Then Azrael of the B'nei Elohim, a servant  of  God  Most  High,  came  before  Nadab  and  gave commandment to do  away with  the cult  of the  golden calf  at Beit-El, but as did also his father, Nadab grew angry and turned this messenger of God Most High away.

In his second year as  Judge over Israel  Nadab prey to  a plot among the officers within his own army. He was slain by Captain Baasha of the tribe of Issachar. Baasha made himself Judge and waged war against Judah continually. Yet he persisted in the sin of Jeroboam, and did not remove the image of the golden calf at Beit-El. And a B'nei  Elohim elyon  named  Leliel came  before Baasha and said, "God Most High has sworn, 'I  will make an end of the House of Baasha if he  does not repent, for he has walked in  the ways  of Jeroboam  and made  the children  of Israel  to sin.'" But at this Baasha grew  full of wrath and ordered Leliel removed from his presence.

Soon after  this  audience  Baasha   was  stricken  down  by  a loathesome ailment that twisted his body and defied the attempts his best doctors to cure. He was succeeded by his son Elah, but Elah drank to excess and he did  not tear down the  idol of the golden calf at Beit-El.

Then Kushiel of  the B'nei  Elohim  came before  Elah and  gave commandment to pull down  the golden calf  in Beit-El  lest his reign be cut short, even as the reign of  his father was ended, but Baasha grew angry and sent Kushiel away  from his presence. He persisted in the sin of Jeroboam.

Then in the second year of his reign Elah  was slain by General Zimri, who commanded half  of his charioteers. Zimri destroyed the whole house  of Baasha,  leaving  no male  heir alive,  and became Judge in  Elah's place. Thus the words  of Leliel  and Kushiel came to pass.

But when news spread that Zimri had set himself  up as Judge in Elah's stead, the army proclaimed General Omri as the first king over all the children of Israel. They marched from Gibbethon to lay siege to Tirzah for a week. Zimri let the palace burn around himself rather than be captured alive.

The new king provoked  God Most  Hight to  anger, for  he, too, walked in the ways of  Jeroboam and  did not remove  the golden calf at Beit-El. And a nephil of the B'nei Elohim,  an ambe by the name of  Anael, came before the king and  said, "Behold, God Most High  is indignant over  the idolatry at Beit-El  and looks not with  favor upon the  House of  Omri. Behold, if  the golden calf is not torn down another  shall vie for the throne over the house of Israel." But Omri only grew angry at the words of Anael and ordered hem removed from his  presence. And he did not end the idolatry practiced at Beit-El.

Soon after  this the  Israelites  of  the northern  territories outside of the tribes of  Ephraim and Manesseh held  forth that Tibni was their king rather than this Omri. Civil war raged four years until Omri relented. He pulled down the altar at Beit-El, and caused the golden calf to be melted, according to the words of Jashen and the prophets. Then Tibni was slain, and Omri was secure upon the throne. After that was a long peace  even with Sidon and the Judahites.

King Omri despised the capital  city of Tirzah and  purchased a hill  from Shemer  where he  built a  new capital  city for  the kingdom. And Samaria became the name of the city and the kingdom after the name of this hill. King Omri waxed strong enough to make Samaria  the greatest power  that existed between  the Nile and Euphrates rivers. He ruled for twelve years and when he died he left the kingdom to his son Ahab.

In the first year of his reign Ahab forged an alliance with the Phoenicians by gaining the hand of Princess Jezebel in marriage. Her father Ithobaal was both king of Sidon and  a priest of the fertility goddess Astarte. Jezebel herself had been trained to attend to  Baal, who was believed  by the Phoenicians to  be the consort of Astarte.

The Phoenician shrines multiplied in Samaria, and with them came their attendant  priests  and  priestesses. There was  a  new prosperity that emerged from the alliance and the people became willing to accept the idolatry of their new queen. But bringing over from Sidon the priests and  idols of foreign gods  was too much for Bat-El to abide.

A ravmalak of the B'nei Elohim named Azrael rebuked King Ahab to his face about the issue and reminded His Majesty  that his God was Yahweh alone, as that was the name by which Bat-El was known by the  Israelites. The king's  wife  was  offended  by  this effrontery and bade the king to have Azrael put  to death. Ahab did not slay Azarael out of  hand but called for  his guards to eject the messenger. In his parting words Azrael told the king if he continued  to defy  God Most  High he  would be  slain in battle.

After that King Ahab made alliance with Jehoshapohat, chieftain of the tribe of Judah,  to recapture the city  of Ramoth-Gilead from the Arameans. The king was laid low by a  stray arrow and died after he was  carried back  to the  capital city,  even as Azrael had foretold. His son Ahaziah became king over Samaria.

King Ahaziah did not tear down the pillar of Baal. A lan of the B'nei Elohim  named  Remiel  warned him  that  if  allowed  the idolatry to continue God Most  High would cut his  reign short. Ahaziah grew angry  at  the  words of  Remiel  and ordered  him removed from his presence. After that Ahaziah reigned just one year and died when  he fell  through a  railing from  the upper floor of  his palace. His brother  Jehoram became  king  over Samaria.

King Jehoram tore down the pillar of Baal in Jezreel but to keep the people from making pilgrimmage  to the temple of  Yahweh in Jerusalem he restored the golden  calf at Beit-El which had been set up in the days of Jeroboam.

A woman of the B'nei Elohim  named Adriel came before  the king and said the idol was a great sin before God Most High. She said if the golden calf  was not removed  Yahweh would  chastise the king by bringing the army of Damascus against  Samaria. At this Jehoram grew angry and ordered that  Adriel be cast out  of his palace. But soon after that  the seige  came to  pass even  as Adriel had said, and thiungs  grew strait for the inhabitants of the city, such that the people contemplated cannibalism.

Then King Jehoram sent  forth soldiers to  seek out  Adriel and drag her back to his court that she might be  put to death, but Adriel calmly foretold that the king's death  would follow hard upon his own, and the  death of  the whole nation  would follow soon after. Then Jehoram repented of the evil that he thought to do to Adriel, and he swore to remove the  idol at Beit-El. Then the seige by  the  king of  Damascus was  lifted  and food  was brought into Samaria.

But Jehoram  forgot his  vow  to  Adriel  and the  golden  calf remained in place at Beit-El. Then Adriel said to king Jehoram, "Behold, because you have sinned against God Most High, and have led the children of Israel to follow you in your faithlessness, God Most High has said the  posterity of the House of Omri shall be brought  to an end." At these words King Jehoram  grew angry and ordered Adriel to depart from his presence forever.

Then Jehoram made alliance with Ahaziah, the son  of his sister Athaliah and chieftain of the  tribe of Judah. With Ahaziah he gave battle  at Ramoth-gilead  to take back  the city  from Aram even as his father King Ahab tried to do, but like his father he was soundly defeated. Following the retreat of his army Jehoram was assassinated by General Jehu at Jezreel.

Jehu led a revolt and slew all the male descendants of Omri and Ahaziah in a great slaughter. Jezebel the widow of Ahab he also ordered to be killed  by her own  eunuch attendants. Jehu then entered the palace at Samaria and declared himself  to be king. He caused the golden calf at  Beit-El to be torn  down, and the cult of priests that served the  idol were put to  death. Never again while the kingdom  of Samaria endured  would the  city of Beit-El be disfigured by idolatrous images.

King Jehu reigned for twenty-eight years but during his reign he was ever assailed by the Arameans in all the  lands held by the children of Israel east of the river Jordan. Therefore to gain an ally Jehu  paid  tribute to  the Assyrians  in  the form  of silver,  gold, a  golden  bowl,  a golden  vase  with a  pointed bottom, golden tumblers, golden buckets, much tin, a staff for a king, and many spears.

Jehoahaz the son of Jehu ascended to the throne in Samaria upon the death of his  father and reigned  for seventeen  years. But King Jehoahaz permitted  the people  to erect  a pillar  to the goddess Asherah in the city of Samaria.

And a nephil of the  B'nei Elohim,  an ambe named  Beleth, came before KIng Jehoahaz and said the pillar to  Asherah in Samaria was exceedingly wicked in the eyes of God Most High. Che said if the pillar was not pulled down Yahweh would  certainly mete out chastisement even as he had done to the kings of Samaria before him. But at hez  words King  Jehoahaz waxed  full of  wrath. He ordered Beleth to depart from his presence and the king did not tear down the pillar.

After that the Aramean king Hazael assailed Samaria. In battles beyond count the army of Jehoahaz was steadily reduced to fifty horsemen, ten chariots and  just ten thousand  infantrymen. Yet the heart of the king was  hardened, and the pillar  of Asherah was not torn down.

When Joash the son of Jehoahaz ascended to the throne in Samaria upon the death of his father he tore down the piller to Asherah in the capital  city and  made an  end to  all idolatry  in the kingdom.

Then Adad-Nirari III, king of  the Assyrians, marched  with his chariots and armies to the great sea in the  west. He erected a statue of his lordship in  the city of  Sidon, which is  in the midst of the sea. He received two thousand talents  of silver, one thousand talents of copper,  two thousand talents  of iron, and three thousand linen garments with multicolored trim. All of these were tribute of  Mari of  the land  of Damascus. He also received the tribute of King Joash of Samaria.

When Amaziah the chieftain  of the  tribe of  Judah set  up the idols of the Edomites in Jerusalem Joash advanced on that city. God Most High  himself caused  a portion  of the  city wall  to crumble. King Joash carried  off the  Temple treasury  and took Amaziah the Judahite chieftain prisoner.

And the idols of the  Edomites that  had adorned the  temple of Yahweh were also carried off to Samaria. King Joash ordered them to be stacked in the  lowest level of the  palace and he  set a guard upon them, lest the  Judahites retrieve them once more and fall into their grievous sin against God Most High.

Jeroboam II ascended to the throne in Samaria upon the death of his father and reigned for forty-one years. During his reign the tribe of Judah acclaimed Uzziah as their own king, as it did not suit them that their brother Joash, even one of the children of Israel, should  assail the temple as  though he were one  of the foreign kings, notwithstanding they had defiled the temple with idols.

A decree went out from King Jeroboam to number  Samaria. It was reported back to the king that  the men of the  kingdom able to hold a sword numbered more than three and ninety thousands, with their wives and men-children and maid-children and servants many more besides. In battle Jeroboam prevailed over the Arameans. He took possession  of  Damascus,  Lodebar, and  Karnaim,  and  he extended  the boundaries  of Samaria  from Hamath  on the  river Orontes. King Jeroboam took the whole Jordan valley  to the Red Seat. But King Jeroboam did not give glory to God Most High for his good fortune. He removed the idols of the Edomites from the depths of the palace and ordered them set up throughout the city of Samaria, thinking it was they who had caused  him to prevail on the field of battle.

Then a seraph of the B'nei Elohim, even Michael, the greatest of that order, came  before the  king. Michael said Jeroboam  had caused the children of Israel to  sin against God Most  High by setting up the  idols of the Edomites. "Two years are appointed that you  may act to remove  the abominations from the  sight of God Most High. Failing that, at the end of the two years a great earthquake shall smite many in Samaria."

Jeroboam grew full of wrath at the words of Michael and ordered him to go out from  his presence. The king did not  remove the idols of the Edomites from their shrines in the city. Then when two more years had passed a great earthquake struck the kingdom, such as had never  been known before,  and forty  thousand were slain.

Yet even so  King  Jeroboam did  not remove  the  idols of  the Edomites, and he restored the shrines that had  been smitten of God Most  High in the  earthquake. Then Michael came before the king once more and said Yahweh had decreed the kingdom would be ripped from  the hands  of Jeroboam's  own son  and be  given to another. At these words the king grew full of wrath. He ordered his guards to  slay  Michael  where he  stood,  but the  seraph departed from the palace within the blink of an eye with a great report, and the  very sound  of the  parting caused  the king's heart to fail.

Zachariah the son of Jeroboam ascended to the throne in Samaria upon the death  of this  father, but  he only  reigned for  six months before an officer of his army named Shallum son of Jabesh assassinated him and took the throne for himself, fulfilling the words of Michael.

King Shallum did not tear down the shrines of  the idols of the Edomites in Samaria. Then a man of the B'nei Elohim, the herald of God Most High named Jashen,  came before the king  and said, "Because, O King, you have permitted this great offense against God Most Hight to remain in Samaria, that the children of Israel are led to sin by worshiping the idols of the Edomites, he shall make a quick end of your rule in the kingdom and give the throne to another, unless you make haste to repent."

King Shallum waxed full  of wrath  at the  words of  Jashen. He ordered the herald to depart from his presence, and this Jashen did. And King Shallum reigned  only thirty days  before another officer of Zachariah's army, Menachem  son of of Gadi,  rose up and  smote him  in his  turn. And Menachem took  the throne  of Samaria for himself. But the men of Tiphsah did not give assent that Menachem should be king.

So Menachem smote that  city, the coasts  thereof, and  put all inhabitants to the edge of  sword, slaying even the  women were heavy with child.

King Menachem heard a report that another messenger of God Most High was seen in the city, and his ministers brought to mind the words of Jashen in the days of King Shallum. So he tore down the shrines of the idols  of the  Edomites, and  caused them  to be melted to slag. Then Menachem ordered this messenger, a man of the B'nei Elohim named Raphael,  to be brought before his throne in Samaria.

And the king said to Raphael, "Behold, the idols of the Edomites are no more. Bless you, then, my reign, in the name of God Most High  that  I  may  live  long and  lead  the  people  into  all righteousness."

But Raphael said, "God  Most High  has judged,  O King,  that a great evil  was carried out in  Tiphsah, even to the  slaying of women who  were with child.  Now therefore Judah has  become the apple of his  eye, and God has sworn to  have nothing further to do with any king who rules  from this city." Then Menachem waxed in wrath, and ordered Raphael to depart from his presence.

And King Menachem exacted a head tax of fifty shekels upon every male in Samaria that he  might give  tribute to King  Tiglat of Assyria. He reigned for  ten  years in  Samaria,  and his  son Pekahiah ascended to the throne upon his death.

Pekahiah reigned for two years before  word came to him  that a nephil servant of God Most High named Elin was seen in the city. And the king gave commandmnent the jen should appear before his throne.

And Pekahiah said to hem, "Behold, Menachem  who sinned against God Most  High has  been dead  these two years,  and I  have not walked  in his  ways,  neither  have I  set  up  idols that  the children of Israel may be led  into sin. Give to me the blessing of Yahweh, therefore, that the people may prosper in the face of our foes the Aramites and the armies of Damascus."

But Elin said, "O  King, as  Raphael has  already said  to King Menachem, God Most High has vowed  to have nought to do with the kings in Samaria, and the Lord's vows are without repentance."

Hearing these words Pekahiah waxed greatly in wrath, and taking a spear he thought to smite Elin, but even as his arm drew back with the spear he fell in a  faint, for it was  given unto Elin that che could smite a man with something akin to lightning. And after that Elin departed from the presence of the king.

Then Pekah of Gilead, the son of Remaliah and  the king's chief lieutenant in the  army, slew  Pekiahiah as  he lay  before the throne of Samaria. And Pekah took the throne and  became king. King Pekah made alliance with King Rezin of Aram, and marched on Jerusalem to levy troops of King Ahaz of Judah  to turn against Tiglat of Syria, but they did not prevail.

Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglat king of Syria begging for succor, and with them sent he also in tribute much silver and gold from the temple, and from the king's own treasury. Then the Assyrians sacked Damascus  and added  the  lands  of  Aram to  their  own territory, and King Rezin was executed.

King Tiglat assailed all the  cities of the tribe  of Naphtali, and defeated them,  and  his army  carried  the people  therein captive to Syria. Then a political party favorable  to Assyria appeared in Samaria, with Hoshea, an officer of Pekah's army, as its leader. And King Tiglat appointed Hoshea as king  over the people of Samaria. He received from Hoshea ten talents of gold and a thousand talents of silver  and had these brought  to his capital. And every year after that Hoshea sent tribute.

When King  Tiglat died  his  son  Shalmaneser attained  to  the throne. Then King Hoshea of Samaria sent ambassadors before the Pharoah in Egypt, and he ceased paying the  yearly tribute. But nothing came to fruition after King Hoshea's overtures to Egypt. Much chastened, the king offered to resume paying the tribute to the Assyrians,  but  Shalmaneser  was  indignant  and  refused, and gave  battle, and  he  took  Hoshea  captive in  war. Then Shalmaneser's armies laid seige to Samaria  and took possession of the city after three years.

King Shalmaneser was  assassinated by  his half-brother  Sargon with the support  of  the  foremost generals  of  the army,  as Shalmaneser's  seiges were  deemed too  long and  fruitless. The army was  withdrawn  from  Samaria to  consolidate  the  king's position in the capital city of Nimrud.

King Sargon set eunuchs as governors of the provinces of Syria, that succession should not be a matter of blood. And he resolved to end the military matters  left standing by  his predecessor. He laid  siege to  Samaria  and  recaptured the  capital  city. Twenty-seven thousand two hundred and ninety people dwelling in the midst of the city and in the land all about were carried off captive. And Sargon chose fifty of the best chariots for himself and distributed the rest among his army. Then Sargon appointed a general over the remaining  people of the  land of  Samaria and collected the taxes of Hoshea their former and final king.

By order of the Assyrian king the people of  the tribes of Dan, Asher, Zebulun, Issachar, Gad, Reuben, and half of Manasseh were relocated to lands far to the  east. The planning for the move took longer than the march and the execution was without flaw.

None marched under the lash, and many even  went willingly. The children of Israel  were a  lettered people,  even to  the boys among them, and the Assyrians had need of them in the governance of their empire. The exiles built new homes in locations chosen such that when the time came for their sons to find wives it was more likely they would find a foreign man's daughter rather than a daughter  of their  fellow  exiles. None were compelled  to intermarry, yet many of them did.

Twelve years later Sargon completed the conquest of Samaria. The remaining people of Manesseh and all of Ephraim  were exiled to Medea. At the same time captives from other  lands were settled in the lands once occupied by the children of  Israel. Only the tribes of  Simeon,  Benjamin,  Judah  remained  in  the  south, together with remnants  of the  house of  Levi who  lived among them. Yet many of the children of Israel who  would not go into exile escaped from Samaria to Judah.

After that influx of refugees the kingdom of Judah waxed strong even as the kingdom  of Samaria  once did. In the six hundred seven and thirtieth year of  the Covenant Hezekiah son  of Ahaz became king of Judah. He removed every vestige of polytheism in Judah, including  the high places  that had existed  under every king since Rehoboam. And he refused to serve the Assyrian king Sennacherib the  son  of  Sargon  II,  the  Assyrian  king  who destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel. Sennacherib therefore laid siege to Jerusalem and forced Hezekiah to pay a tribute of thirty talents of  gold, eight hundred talents  of silver, gems, antimony, and many jewels.

Also paid in tribute was  carnelian, couches and  chairs inlaid with ivory, elephant hides and tusks, ebony, boxwood, and other rich treasures, along with Hezekiah's daughters, his wives, his musicians, men and women. All of these things were taken by King Sennacherib to Ninevah.

To prepare Jerusalem in  the event  of another  siege, Hezekiah constructed an aqueduct to bring  fresh water into the  Pool of Siloam inside the city. He also commanded a new wall to be built from Temple Mount to the  West Hill  where new houses  has been built by refugees from the northern kingdom.

In the six hundred and fifty-first year of  the Covenant Neriah son of Urijah  became High  Priest unto  God Most  High. Neriah collected from the downfallen kingdom of  Samaria scrolls which had been penned by the  prophets Hosea  and Amos and  Micah, as well as  histories and poetry  and political polemic  written by unnamed  scribes for  their patrons  the kings  of Samaria. All these writings Neriah commanded to  be copied and  preserved by his own scribes.

In the six hundred six and  sixtieth year of the  Covenant king Hezekiah died,  and  Manasseh  was  annointed  king  of  Judah. Manasseh became a vassal of the Assyrian king Esarhaddon, son of Sennacherib, who exacted tribute in the form  of stones, timber and labor for  his  public works. Also when Esarhaddon's  son Ashurbanipan became  king of  Assyria  upon  the death  of  his father, he levied troops from Manasseh to meet the Egyptians on the field of battle.

In the six  hundred nine  and  eightieth year  of the  Covenant Hoshaiah became high priest  unto God  Most High. And Hoshaiah spoke out against  the king  for building  shrines to  Baal and Asherah in the temple, and the  king waxed wroth, but  he dared not strike directly at  the high  priest. Instead Manasseh had many of Hoshaiah's supporters among the  landed aristocracy put to death, but this did  not turn  them against Hoshaiah  as the king intended, but rather they began to plot against the king.

In the seven  hundred  first  and tenth  year  of the  Covenant Manesseh died after reigning fifty-five years, and his son Amon became king of Judah. Amon sacrificed to the idols that had been set up by  his father  in the  temple, and  he became  more the vassal to the Assyrians than his  father had been, even  as the power of Assyria waned. Tealthy Levites loyal to Hoshaiah led a coup against  the new king. They caused him to be assassinated after a reign of only two years.

In the seven hundred three and tenth year of the Covenant Josiah king of Judah, being then only eight years of age. But Hoshaiah the High Priest was the real power behind the  throne until his death. Then Josiah commanded all  the religious items  made for Baal, Asherah, and other gods to be burned outside the city. He tore down the  apartments of  the  prostitutes in  the cult  of Asherah. He also destroyed once  and for  all the altar  to the golden calf built in Beth-El by King Rehoboam.

In the seven hundred and thirtieth year of the Covenant Hilkiah son of Hoshaiah became High Priest unto Elyon Most High upon the death of his father.

King Josiah commanded that all the people  should congregate in the Great Court of  the Temple, that he might  recite to them a scroll found by the high priest, one that had been hidden in the walls of the hekhal from the  days of Zadok. And for the first time the children of  Israel learned of  Moshe, the  brother of Aaron, and  how Yahweh made  a Second Covenant with  the Hebrews that was forgotten. Yet Aaron had no such brother named Moshe, and there was only ever the Abrahamic covenant.

But the King rehearsed in  the ears of the  people commandments that the scroll said had been given to Moshe in the days before the twelve tribes were apportioned their lands.

And on the following Day  of Atonement Hilkiah the  High Priest appeared before the Table of the Covenant to beg  God Most High to forgive the sins of the people.

But Bat-El said, "This have I done, for I am  your God. But the sin of the king I will  not forgive because his transgression is renewed daily, whenever  a priest recites again  from the scroll the king unveiled to the people."

And the high priest said, "Please, Lord, let me understand."

And Bat-El said, "I said none of the things the king recited in my name. Aaron had a sister, Miriam, but no brothers. This Moshe did not exist. There was not, and there never shall be, a second covenant between myself and any of the inhabitants of Earth. All those things the king read to  the people were lies that redound to the benefit of the priesthood. Therefore I shall raise up the king of  the South, and  Josiah king of  Judah shall die  at his hands. Then  I shall raise  up the king  of the East,  and there shall be much much  going to and fro of armies,  and the sons of Josiah shall  shift their  allegiance between their  two enemies until  the sceptre  departs from  the throne  of Judah  forever. Nevertheless the nation  shall be saved if the  king gathers all the people in  the Temple Courtyard and repents  of this figment of a  Second Covenant.  He may  even say he  was decived  by the priests, for that, at least, is true."

Hilkiah the  High Priest  was  terrified. He said, "Lord,  be merciful! If I give this commandmandment to the king and he says nay he will have  me put to death, and if he  says yea the other priests will put me to death."

And Elyon said,  "Then your  choice  is clear,  Hilkiah son  of Hoshaiah.  You can  die  at  the hands  of  wicked  men, yet  be redeemed in  the eyes of  your God,  and your son  Azariah shall take your place, or you can be  accursed and die at the hands of your God, and you shall be the final High Priest in Judah."

With these words from his God the high priest feared to take the Table of the Covenant from the Holiest Place to  display to the people, as was the procedure on every Day of Atonement from the days of Levi  when Ithuriel  delivered  the relic  to him,  for Hilkiah knew God would strike him dead if he touched the stone, and his fellow priests would haul  his body out of  the Holiest Place by a rope tied about his loins as a precaution against the Lord's displeasure.

Instead he backed out  of the chamber  and appeared  before the people empty handed. He told them God himself had  decreed the Table of the Covenant must remain forever in the Holiest Place, and none may see it,  save the High  Priest, lest it  become an object of  idolatry, and none  may touch  it, not even  the High Priest.