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THE HOLY STONE ENGRAVED.

צא

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come a reproach round about us*. And now, hearken, O our God, unto the prayer of thy "servant, and unto his supplicationst.

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830. That the holy stone may be engraven, "the one stone which thou hast placed upon the "breast of thy holy priests to clothe them with "righteousness and salvation, to cause the horn of thy anointed to bud forth. Forgive, I pray thee, "the sins of thy country and the sins of thy children, the children of thy covenant, whom thou "hast caused to go into captivity among the na"tions. And remember unto us the covenant " and the loving-kindness which thou hast sworn "unto our forefathers of ancient days. And let thy countenance shine into thy desolate sanctuary, for the sake of my Lord, and for the sake "of thy Name, by which thy city and thy nation were called§.' The while I was speaking and praying according to those words, mine eyes "became like unto an increasing fountain, and my strength left me, neither was there breath left in me||; but I gathered strength, and I prayed the evening offering in the field, before the enteringin of the city. And when I came to the blessing,

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Ezek. xxix. 21.

|| Dan. x. 17.

Da, p, introitus, ingressus, congressus,

congregatio.

צא

BATH-KOL-ROME.

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"The deliverer of Israel,' I heard a voice speak

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ing into mine ears, and it was that of my own " rabbi speaking*, and it said unto me, ' And Seir "shall be a possession for his enemiest.' And on "the blessing, The gatherer of the scattered of 'Israel,' I heard also the same voice, and it said,

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And Israel shall do valiantly ‡.' And on the blessing, 'The king who loveth righteousness and judgment,' I heard, 'Their foot shall slide in due times. And at the blessing, The support and safety unto the righteous,' I heard, And He "will repent himself concerning His servants ||.' "And on the blessing, 'The builder of Jerusalem,' "I heard, To me belongeth vengeance, and recompense. And on the blessing, Who causeth "the horn of salvation to bud forth,' I heard, And "Edom shall be a possession**.' And at the end of

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my prayer I went into the city, and I went into "the house of the commander of the host, and I gave "him the horse, and my goodly raiment††, and I "said unto him, 'I have in this country a beloved,

The Rabbi והיא מהרבי שלי ויאמר אלי Like an echo *

heard ab, a sort of oracle, on repeating the eighteen blessings in the daily prayer of the Jews.

† Numb. xxiv. 18.

§ Deut. xxxii. 35. Deut. xxxii. 35.

tt Gen. xxvii. 15.

↑ Deut. xxxii. 35.

| Deut. xxxii. 36; Psalm cxxxv. 14. ** Numb. xxiv. 18.

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whom I have loved [y] since the days of old and "in former years; and my soul was bound up in her "soul*; but her father and her mother have con"cealed her in secret places of concealment; and "it is impossible for me to speak unto her, unless "I dress myself like a stranger with the clothes of "the poor who beg at the doors: procure them for "me, that I may go.' And the commander of the "host did so. And I put on the clothes, and

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changed the brightness of my countenance into

blackness†, and tied linen cloths smeared with "oil upon my legs, and went about mourning, like "one despised and rejected of men§; like a man "of sorrows and acquainted with grief||, and in whom "there is no soundness. And I passed through the "streets of the city unto the bridge which is over "the river Tiber, near the fort of the pope, where "are the poor and the sick; and I sat among them

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thirty days, like unto one stricken and smitten of “God**. I did not eat pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth††. And it

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came to pass, at the end of the thirty days, on "the tenth day of the month of the Gentiles, which "is the twelfth month Adar‡‡ of the year RUTS,

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A.M. 5290.- ZEPHATH AND DAMASCUS. 161

( he spake unto his lad RUN * ;') when about "the middle of the night, a deep sleep fell

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upon met, and behold, the old man, whom "I had seen before in a vision, came unto “me and said, 'My son, I am come to make "thee understand what will happen unto the na"tions in the midst of whom thou art. Come with

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me unto the ruins of Jerusalem, where thou wast at first.' And he took me, and led me unto a

place of two mountains, which are in the plea"sant land, between Mount Zion and Jerusalem, "and between Zephath‡ and Damascus; for I "had already seen them in a vision long ago, and "their likeness is upon my seal above the two "lameds which are in my name§ and surname ||; "for from the day I had seen them, I put them

* Rabbi Joseph quotes here 1 Sam. xx. 36, 7, but is the only word which contains the number.

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his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath,

and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called

Hormah." Jud. i. 17.

Salomo.

Molcho, or as Jost writes: Malchu.

VOL. II.

M

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upon my seal for a sign.

seal for a sign. And the right one of

“ these two mountains, which is over against Zepiati and Damascus, is the smaller; and the left one, which is over against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, is the larger. And as we were there, be made me to stand upon my feet upon the top of the right mountain, and said unto me. Lift up thine eyes, I pray thee, towards the left moun

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tain, and tell me what thou seest. And I said, "I see a man clothed in white raiment, in whose "hands are the balances, and above him, a man "who is greater than he, clothed in linen, whiter "aud costlier than that which I saw first. And the men in whose hands were the balances was upon

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the top of the mountain, and above him the second mau, according as it had been in the first vision: "and as I sprake with him, the mountains ap1 proached one unto the other, and the taller man was left between the earth and the heavens above

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ow heads. And as I was upon the smaller moun

tem, the legs of the man who was upon the top “of the left mountain lengthened, until my head

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war between bis knees. And the old man said unto me, Open thy mouth, and thou shalt speak unto b, and ask him what will be the judgment of the nation, whence I have taken 1 sud unto him, How can the servant "at my Lord apok with this, my lord, since I

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