Pseudo-Jacob of Serugh
sixth or seventh century CE
translated by E. A. Wallis Budge
1889
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NOTE |
The Alexander Romance is often described as Antiquity's most successful novel. The Romance is a collection of legendary narratives about Alexander the Great that blend history, myth, and fantasy into a highly imaginative biography. Probably originating in the Hellenistic period, but certainly before the Latin translation of 334 CE, and later attributed falsely to Callisthenes (hence the “Pseudo-Callisthenes”), the text recounts Alexander’s miraculous birth, his conquests across the known world, and a series of fantastical adventures—such as encounters with strange peoples and monsters, journeys to the ends of the earth, and even ascents into the sky and descents beneath the sea. Over centuries, the work was translated and adapted into numerous languages. Other competing legends gained currency in its wake, including the Song of Alexander, a sixth or seventh century Syriac text, once falsely attributed to Jacob of Serugh, which presents Alexander as a holy Christian monarch who builds great gates to keep the forces of Gog and Magog at bay until the End Times. The story, a fuller version of the one given in the Syriac Alexander Legend, had great influence on the apocalyptic traditions of medieval Christianity and Islam, appearing in the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius and even in the Quran. The translation below is taken from E. A. Wallis Budge, The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version of the Pseudo-Callisthenes, published in 1889.
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A DISCOURSE COMPOSED BY MAR JACOB
UPON ALEXANDER, THE BELIEVING KING,
AND UPON THE GATE WHICH HE MADE
AGAINST AGÓG AND MAGÔG.
Through Thee, O splendour of the Father, I begin to speak,
By Whose victory the righteous have been victorious in their wars.
In love, O Lord, give me speech from Thy doctrine,
That the speech of wonder may run among the listeners.
Through the knowledge which is sanctified' from corporeal thoughts
Will I sing to Thee [with] sounds of glory in the congregations.
From Thee shall my pain-bearing tongue put on armour,
With understanding and the word full of life and of all good things.
Overshadow my feebleness with the compassion of Thy sweetness,
And we shall possess riches from
Thy gift full of beauties.
And Thee, O Lord, shall my feeble mouth preach with a loud voice.
O Jesus, the Light, Who redeemed creation by His crucifixion,
Thee are the fiery hosts eager to praise,
With glory and power will I sing unto Thee bowing low in adoration.
The fiery Cherubim bear Thee, O Lord, upon their wings,
And the fiery ranks ascribe to Thy name all adoration.
The watchers of the height bow down in trembling to praise [Thee],
But how can I, the feeble one, speak of Thee?
The fiery hosts bless Thee, O Lord, with holiness,
And with them the assemblies of the house of Gabriel ascribe honour [to Thee].
The terrible Seraphim adore Thee, O Lord, with their hymns,
But I, the wretched one, how can I bring forth glory to Thy
The captains of the hosts and the hosts of heavenly beings,
Glorify [Thee] with trembling, though their songs are beautiful. O Good One,
Who bindest on the crowns of kings and governors,
Grant that I may speak about the kingdom of the son of
This king, full of wisdom, gathered together to his dominion[s]
The captains of the hosts and the hosts with their ranks.
And when the captains of thousands and all the wise men were gathered together,
Lords and governors and warriors,
Then began Alexander, the son of Philip,
To speak with them, while they marvelled at his discourses.
The king, the son of Philip the Macedonian, said,
"I desire greatly to go forth and see countries,
And also what is the condition of lands far away
I will also go forth and see seas and boundaries and all the quarters of the world;
And more than all (I desire] to go in and see the Land of Darkness,
If it is in truth as I have heard it is.
All these things were spoken by the king
To the captains of the hosts and to the captains of thousands and to the lords.
And after he had subdued Macedonia which had rebelled against him,
He went down and dwelt in the chief town of all Egypt,
And he bound on the crown, and he became greater and stronger than all kings.
When the question went forth from him to the chiefs,
They said to him, “Master, the terrible seas which surround the world
Will not allow thee to go over and see the land.”
The king marvelled at what he had heard from his subjects (lit. dominion),
And he began to speak to his hosts like a wise man.
The king said, “Have ye been and seen the seas
Which, according to what ye say, surround the whole earth?”
They say to him, "Master, within these terrible seas
Is the fœtid sea, which, of a truth, is full of quaking.
And unless men decree death to their lives with great wrath
They never come to the fœtid sea."
The king said, "Let us go and see if, of a truth",
The terrible seas and the fœtid sea [are] as we have heard."
They say to him, "Master, thy wisdom hath well commanded;
Let us gather together" the hosts and go and see the countries."
The command went forth from the king speedily,
And he assembled straightway the hosts in great multitude.
He gathered together riders, and captains of thousands, and lofty seats,
And ready soldiers, and mighty men dressed in armour,
And horses and men; and the king marvelled at his forces.
Then the wise king in his wisdom commanded,
"Let ships be prepared for the host'.
Let also men be taken who have gone and seen the land
And the countries and the terrible seas and the fœtid sea."
He made ready a great multitude of ships for his hosts",
And he filled them with all kinds of food for horse and man.
The believing king Alexander, the son of Philip,
In his wisdom did this, and his heart rejoiced
Because the people were gathered together to him quickly.
He took the number of his troops of the Âmôrâyê”,
One thousand three hundred and many more with polished armour.
And he sent and told Sôrîk the king of all Egypt
To send to him from his dominions all the artificers,
Workers in brass and iron, men full of skill,
For the Lord had beckoned to him to make a gate against Mâgôg.
Twelve thousand cunning workmen
Did Sôrîk" the king of Egypt send to the son of Philip.
King Alexander made ready iron and brass a great quantity,
And, in his wisdom, he filled the ships therewith.
He alone knew this mystery,
Which Jeremiah, in his prophecy, had prophesied concerning him.
The great king went forth with his subjects,
The horns sounded and the thousands and the ranks were gathered together and went forth.
The camp rose up and went forth, and the king marvelled,
And his hosts began to go down into the great sea.
The earth was astonished at the rumour of king Alexander.
The king set his course on the sea towards India;
After four months the king and his host went up from the sea,
And spread abroad in the land, and creation was filled with their hosts.
Quaking fell upon the lands and their inhabitants
By reason of the multitude of the hosts which terrified them.
And they went and came and drew near to the border of the fœtid sea,
And they departed by reason of its stench, they fled away from its noise, and the king's soul was astonished.
And he made straight his way towards the lofty mountain Mâsîs,
He ascended the mountain and stood upon its summit and looked at the lands,
And with him were all the thousands and ranks and hosts.
The king, the son of Philip the Macedonian, said
To the hosts, "Let us straightway go forth by the way of the north."
The king went in and took possession of (lit. stood upon) the lands, and [the people] feared him,
And fled away from him, for his great fame made them flee away.
When the king saw that the inhabitants of the land trembled at him,
He sent before him some of his ambassadors to proclaim peace, [saying]
"Let the people remain, and let no man flee before them (i. e., the hosts)."
He gave the word and swore by his life through the heralds,
"I will not slay, nor carry away captive, nor destroy."
The heralds cried, "Alexander the great king
Has come to this land in peace, neither slaying,
Nor leading away into captivity, nor carrying away spoil',
Let every man dwell in his habitation in peace and without fear!
Let the nobles and the aged men of the country go to him,
For he has given the word of his mouth which never lies."
He in his wisdom gathered together and brought the nobles and the aged,
That he might learn from them of the matter of the secrets of the land".
Three hundred old, greyheaded men were gathered together to him,
Intelligent men who knew the secrets of the land'.
They went in and stood before the glorious king, and did reverence unto him",
And they saw his glory and his speech and his strength, and they feared him,
And they entreated him and besought him to have mercy upon them.
They say to him, "Master, may thy crown be magnified over all the world,
May thy fame and name overthrow kings and their dominions!"
The king rejoiced to be blessed by the old men,
And he commanded them to sit on his right hand and on his left'.
When they had sat down according to the command of the great king,
He began to question [them] wisely, saying,
"One thing my soul asketh you to show me,
Where is the Land of Darkness? I wish to see it."
They say to him, "Master, why seekest thou the Land of Darkness?
Every one who hears the mention" of it flees that he may not enter therein.
Some men, in their audacity, dared to enter therein,
And they went and perished and unto this day have not returned and come forth."
The king said, "Our coming to this land was on account of this,
And there is no other way' for me but to see it."
The old men say, "There is a great mountain
The length of the road to which from here is twelve days."
The king said, "Give me men who know the country,
And as for the way, however far it may be, it will not be tedious to me."
There was one old, greyheaded man there
Who knew the way and was experienced in the mysteries of the country.
This old man answered and said to Alexander,
"I will go with thy majesty and show thee."
Then the heart of the king rejoiced and his face became glad;
And he took the old men and the nobles and they went with him.
And when he had come to the country in which was the Land of Darkness
While as yet they were ten parasangs distant from the place,
One wise old man who knew mysteries answered and
Said to the king, "Reveal to me the mystery and hide not it from me,
What is thy quest in the Land of Darkness? what [will it] profit [thee]?
And why hast thou come to the land in which there is no light?”
The king said, "I have heard that therein is the fountain of life,
And I desire greatly to go forth and see if, of a truth, it is [there]."
The old man said, "There are many fountains in the country,
And no man knoweth which is the fountain of the water of life."
The king said, "Do not dispute with me1 concerning this matter,
For there is no other way for me but to go in and see the country."
Then the old man answered and said to him in his wisdom,
"Since the matter is thus, seek out beasts from among the she-asses,
All of whom have young and give suck.
According to the number of the men whom thou wishest to go into [the land] with thee
Let them bring beasts, and let them also bring their young with them."
The command went forth from the king full of wisdom,
And the people of the country went forth from him and gathered together and brought five hundred beasts from among the she-asses.
After these things the old man said to the son of Philip,
"Command thy cook to take with him a salt fish, and wherever he sees a fountain of water let him wash the fish;
And if it be that it comes to life in his hands when he washes it,
That is the fountain of the water of life which thou askest for, O king."
And when he arrived at the door which goeth into the Land of Darkness',
The king said to his cook", "Take thou a dry fish,
And where thou seest a fountain of water, wash it.
And if it be that the fish comes to life in thy hand when thou washest it,
Reveal it to me and show me which is the fountain when thou hast found it."
The old man said, "Let the foals remain outside the door,
For if they come in with us we shall perish."
The king mounted and the chosen people that were with him,
And they began to go in, and they left the young asses outside the door;
And they then began to go down into the darkness,
Without knowing whither they were travelling in the land.
And when the cook came to water he alighted and began to wash
The salt fish; and it did not come to life in his hand as had been said'.
Finally he came to a fountain in which was the water of life,
And he drew near to wash the fish in the water, and it came to life and escaped.
The faulty one feared lest the king would require at his hand
That he should return to him the fish which came to life without impediment',
And he leaped down into the water to catch it, but he was not able.
And he went up from the fountain to tell the king that he had found the [fountain of life].
He cried out and they heard him not, he went to the mountain and then they heard him.
Then the king rejoiced that he had heard of the fountain,
And he went back to bathe in it as he had asked.
He went to the mountain in the darkness but he did not stand upon it,
And it was not granted to him by the Lord that he should live [for ever],
And he was grieved about this even unto death.
And when the old man saw that he was afflicted with grief, [he said],
"The Lord hath not turned His face away from thee, O king."
The old man said, "Let us turn our beasts and let us go forth from here;
For the Lord does not wish thee to bathe in the fountain' and live for ever."
They turned the beasts and they whipped them and they went out to their young ones.
The king turned being grieved that he had not accomplished the matter.
And the nobles came and comforted him by reason of [his] grief [saying],
"Master, be not afflicted on account of this, and let it not be grievous unto thee.
Look, master, and observe the early and middle generations,
That to each one of them has come its end and it has passed away and gone."
And Alexander in his wisdom began to ask questions, [saying,]
"What are these nations who are beyond you?
Has any king obtained sovereignty in this land'?"
The wise men' looked upon this king full of wisdom [and saw]
How joyful he was at the advice of the old men and nobles of the country.
The old men say, "This is the dominion of Tûbarlika
The great king of the house of the Persians and of the Amôrâyê.
Within it are the peoples of the house of Japhet and of the house of Mâgôg,
A cunning nation, a flayed nation, an uprooted nation."
The king said, "Have we a mountain from here onwards'?”
The old men say, "As far as the river Kallath and [as far as] Halôrîs' [are]
Fearful, savage and lofty mountains with great terror,
And beyond them terrible mountains, a great boundary
Which God hath set between us and them from all eternity."
The old men say, "It is altogether a difficult land
In which there are dragons and wild beasts and serpents,
And unless men pass the sentence of death upon their lives
They are not able to dwell with dragons and snakes."
Then the great king Alexander answered
In his wisdom, "How can we pass through the mountains?"
He commanded and they brought armour, and he made every beast to carry [some of it].
The horses rattled the bells and the armour, and they passed through the land3.
The old men say, "Look1, my lord the king, and see a wonder,
This mountain which God has set as a great boundary."
King Alexander the son of Philip said,
"How far is the extent of this mountain?"
The old men say, "Beyond India it extends in its appearance."
The king said, "How far does this side come?"
The old men say, "Unto all the ends of the earth."
And wonder seized the great king at the counsel of the old men,
And he began to ask questions to learn more about everything.
The king said, "Who are these kings
And the terrible peoples which are beyond this mountain ?"
The old men say, "Listen", O Master, and king; and we will tell thee.
Behold, the family of Agôg and the family of Mâgôg are beyond us,
Terrible of aspect, hateful of form, of all heights,
The stature of each one of them is from six to seven cubits;
Their noses are flat and their foreheads hateful.
They bathe in blood, and in blood wash they also their heads;
They drink blood and eat the flesh of men;
They wear skins, sharpen weapons and forge wrath,
And are more ferocious and have more wars than all other nations'.
Where the wrath of the Lord rises he sends them;
And they overturn the land, and uproot mountains, and devour men."
Then the son of Philip was grieved because he heard these things,
And he marvelled at this greatly within himself a long time.
Little by little he learned and understood everything which he asked,
And he had it in his mind to make there a great gate.
His mind was full of spiritual thoughts,
While taking advice from the old men, the dwellers in the land.
He looked at the mountain which encircled the whole world,
The great boundary which God had established from everlasting.
The king said, "Where have the hosts come forth
To plunder the land and all the world from of old?"
They show him a place in the middle of the mountains,
A narrow pass which had been constructed by God.
The king looked upon the narrow pass with wonderment,
And [saw] that the mountain extended' and was terrible in its strength on all sides.
Above it he saw a river of blood flowing down,
And like a torrent of water flowing on against the people.
He examined it that he might make there a great door
Full of wonder in all the world to him that sees it.
The Spirit of the Lord stirred up the king, the son of Philip,
With all thoughts to restrain wickedness from the lands.
Letters went to Tûbarlîkî the king of Persia, [saying,]
"Alexander the great king is in thy country,
He is not carrying away captive, nor slaying, nor spoiling,
Though he has with him countless hosts of men.
He dwells peacefully in thy land as if it
And the royalty and the dominion were his own."
When the king of Persia received this report
From the ambassadors who went into his presence with the letters,
Wonder took hold of the king of Persia on account of this,
And he trembled and was disturbed by the noise of the rumour of the great king.
And he sent and gathered together the forces that were in his dominion,
And he assembled and brought sixty-two other kings
To come to his aid and to help him with their hosts;
And they all gathered together and covered the earth like locusts.
And in great wrath all the kings took counsel
To go up against him and destroy him and blot out his name.
When all the kings with their hosts arrived,
And drew near to go in and throw war into the camp,
King Alexander, the son of Philip, lay down to sleep,
And he saw in his dream an angel saying to him,
They bathe in blood, and in blood wash they also their heads;
They drink blood and eat the flesh of men;
They wear skins, sharpen weapons and forge wrath,
And are more ferocious and have more wars than all other nations'.
Where the wrath of the Lord rises he sends them;
And they overturn the land, and uproot mountains, and devour men."
Then the son of Philip was grieved because he heard these things,
And he marvelled at this greatly within himself a long time.
Little by little he learned and understood everything which he asked,
And he had it in his mind to make there a great gate.
His mind was full of spiritual thoughts,
While taking advice from the old men, the dwellers in the land.
He looked at the mountain which encircled the whole world,
The great boundary which God had established from everlasting.
The king said, "Where have the hosts come forth
To plunder the land and all the world from of old?"
They show him a place in the middle of the mountains,
A narrow pass which had been constructed by God.
The king looked upon the narrow pass with wonderment,
And [saw] that the mountain extended' and was terrible in its strength on all sides.
Above it he saw a river of blood flowing down,
And like a torrent of water flowing on against the people.
He examined it that he might make there a great door
Full of wonder in all the world to him that sees it.
The Spirit of the Lord stirred up the king, the son of Philip,
With all thoughts to restrain wickedness from the lands.
Letters went to Tûbarlîkî the king of Persia, [saying,]
"Alexander the great king is in thy country,
He is not carrying away captive, nor slaying, nor spoiling,
Though he has with him countless hosts of men.
He dwells peacefully in thy land as if it
And the royalty and the dominion were his own."
When the king of Persia received this report
From the ambassadors who went into his presence with the letters,
Wonder took hold of the king of Persia on account of this,
And he trembled and was disturbed by the noise of the rumour of the great king.
And he sent and gathered together the forces that were in his dominion,
And he assembled and brought sixty-two other kings
To come to his aid and to help him with their hosts;
And they all gathered together and covered the earth like locusts.
And in great wrath all the kings took counsel
To go up against him and destroy him and blot out his name.
When all the kings with their hosts arrived,
And drew near to go in and throw war into the camp,
King Alexander, the son of Philip, lay down to sleep,
And he saw in his dream an angel saying to him,
“Behold, Tûbarlîkî the king of Persia has gathered together a host,
And has also hired him sixty‑two other kings.
Arise, prevail over their hosts, and destroy them;
For, behold, God has come and stood within thy camp; He will make thee victorious, and will help thee, and will make thee to triumph.
Thou shalt conquer them all through the right hand of the Lord that is with thee.”
Then Alexander awoke and rose up from his sleep,
And he called to the nobles and the captains of hundreds and the captains of thousands,
And he began to speak and command his troops, saying:
“Behold, the Lord hath come to our aid and to our help.
Come, let us stand praying to the Lord with strength.”
And the king commanded all the people to take incense,
And they burned there a sweet odour to the Lord among their ranks.
The king and the nobles and the hosts that were with him
Carried upon stones and sherds fire and sweet incense.
And after they had burned incense in the camp,
The king began to speak and to exhort his troops, saying:
“Behold, the time of great strife and battle has come.
Put on your breastplates and gird upon you all your armour;
Put your helmets upon your heads and stand up for war like men.
For behold, Tûbarlîkî the king of Persia has gathered to himself a host,
And has also hired sixty‑two other kings.
And behold, they are all gathered together like one man with their hosts,
That they may come against us and wipe out our name and our kingdom.
Stand up then to war like men and warriors,
And receive triumph and a fair renown for evermore.”
He made ready and furnished the hosts, the children of Rûm,
With armour and breastplates that they might not be terror‑stricken in the fight.
The wise king encouraged his hosts
That they should neither be terror‑stricken nor moved by the enemies’ hosts, saying:
“I have hope in God, Whom I serve,
That He will make us victorious and triumphant in our wars with them.”
When Alexander had finished speaking
And encouraging his hosts for the battle,
His hosts stood up and put on their armour and breastplates,
And were ready to fight like men.
Then the king of Persia looked from the top of the mountain,
And these sixty‑two kings with their hosts
Descended and came against the camp of Alexander.
And he made there a great slaughter among their ranks,
And the believing king Alexander prevailed,
And slew sixty‑two kings and a multitude of the host.
Tûbarlîkî the king of Persia he captured alive,
And he fettered him with heavy iron fetters and bound him prisoner near to him.
Then the hosts which remained fled away from him,
And forsook their king and escaped to another land.
And when Alexander had thus gained the victory,
He buried the slain and took their arms.
Then he courageously took pains and made a door
Against Agôg and the family of Magog, and bound them inside.
He took iron and brass, a great quantity, and made it ready
For the making of the door, that he might shut it in the face of the people.
He gave his commands to twelve thousand skilled, ready workmen
Whom Sôrîk the king of Egypt had given to him from his dominion.
He, the wise man, called the workmen and taught them
How they should make the length and breadth of it with great strength.
He measured the ground of the narrow pass between the mountains,
That he might shut in the peoples of the house of Mâgôg until the end.
The king in his wisdom measured from mountain to mountain,
Twelve cubits in the strength of his power.
The king said, “Make ye a threshold for the whole pass,
And let it be sunk in the mountain on this side and on that.”
They made it of great height and breadth, four cubits;
Its length and extent was twelve cubits of a strong man.
On each side of the mountain he sunk the head of the threshold,
On both sides two cubits of a strong man.
He made a lintel over the door, over all the pass,
And sunk it in the mountains on both sides for the whole width of the door.
He made it six cubits wide and six cubits high with skill,
Of iron and brass, a marvellous work, the like of which there is not.
The hosts erected and fixed the door there
In all the threshold, above and below, as in clay.
He put bolts into the threshold and into the door,
And sunk them in so that no man knew where they fitted together.
For all the lintel over the door against the wind,
The king made strong posts of brass and iron.
On this side of these he made bolts of great strength:
Twelve cubits was its length and two cubits its breadth,
A cubit and a half was the thickness of the bolt with cunning work;
And it held fast the wood, the bolts, the door, and the two sides of the mountain,
That they might not be unloosed.
The king fixed doors and beams and bolts in the two sides of the mountain,
And another bolt of brass and iron, in his wisdom.
He fixed the door, and wonder and quietness and rest and silence
Came over the peoples of the house of Mâgôg, who had not perceived the building.
King Alexander made haste and made the door
Against the north, and against the spoilers and the children of Mâgôg.
In the sixth month he finished the building of the whole door.
And the king and all his army marvelled, and their hearts rejoiced
That the whole work of the royal building had been built--
A work of which wisdom and intelligence had laid the foundations.
Ambassadors went forth into the countries and lands
And proclaimed the great work of the terrible door which the king had made.
After these things the king, the son of Philip, said:
“It is meet that we make a great feast to the Lord in this land,
For He came to help us and destroyed our enemies,
And He has helped us and straightway completed this building.”
The king said, “Let us take incense, and let all the people
Burn it here for a sweet smell to the Lord among their assemblies.”
The king and the nobles and the hosts that were with him
Carried fire and sweet incense upon stones and sherds.
They burnt pure incense among the ranks and the thousands and the assemblies,
On the new festival upon which was built the great work.
The king said, “If the Lord come into our camp
And find it of sweet odour, peradventure He will dwell therein.”
And after they had burnt incense, king Alexander commanded
That all the people of the palace should rejoice and be glad.
The king set in order rich foods for all his hosts,
And gave [……] to the captains of thousands that they might […..].
The king commanded that there should be set forth meat
For the assembly of his hosts,
And that they should make glad at the table according to their ranks.
He made a feast for the old men and the nobles and the captains of thousands,
And they made glad at the table in a loving manner.
The king rejoiced in that building full of cunning works,
Because he had become triumphant through the victory which God had given him.
And having thus rejoiced at the table,
At midday, at the time of noon, the king rested
On a couch of gold, in perfect love and belief.
Then the Lord answered him in a vision, with great wonder,
And He sent a watcher of fire to him beyond all expectation.
The king saw that fiery being in a dream, and feared,
And he spake with him all hidden and terrible things.
The watcher said, “The Lord sent me that I might come to thee,
And inform thee what it is meet for thee to do with Tûbarlîkî.
Rise up and make peace with Tûbarlîkî, the king of Persia,
And take away from him the land of Egypt and the land of Jabûs.
Take from him the land of Palestine and the Hebrews’ country,
And the whole land of Syria and Mesopotamia.
Take from him Phoenicia and Cilicia,
Cappadocia, Galatia and Phrygia,
Also Asia and the territory of the Greeks and Seleucia.
Take his dominion until thou comest to Kalkîdîâ.
Take his dominion and set the river Kallath as a boundary for yourselves,
And let not one of you pass over the boundary which ye set for him.”
The Lord spake by the hand of the angel, [saying]:
“I will magnify thee more than all the kings and governors in all the world.
This great gate which thou hast made in this land
Shall be closed until the end of times cometh.
Jeremiah also prophesied concerning it, and the earth hath heard:
‘The gate of the north shall be opened on the day of the end of the world,
And on that day shall evil go forth on the wicked.’”
“There shall be woe to those who are with child,
And to those who give suck.
The Lord says: ‘In the seven‑thousandth year
There shall be rumours and dire quakings in all countries.
Sin and wickedness and all evil things shall increase in the world--
Envy, craftiness, adultery, murder, and all hateful things,
Lying and slander of the children of wickedness.
Fraud and pride shall increase in the earth,
And haughtiness and lasciviousness and infidelity,
And schisms and contentions shall fall among the children of men.
The heavens shall be like darkness and the earth shall quake,
And the love of many shall wax cold in these days.
And wars and captivities and death shall increase among the children of men.
And there shall be famines and cruel wars in various countries,
And there shall be tumults also in the islands that are in the sea.
And the sun and the moon and the stars shall be dark in their risings,
And the earth shall be devoured by fire and locusts and mighty hail.
The ends of the earth shall tremble with the noise of the thundering in all lands,
And winter and winds and storms and lightnings and mighty earthquakes.
The heavens shall become like smoke through darkness,
The sea shall be troubled, and wickedness shall increase in all the world.
Towns and cities and villages shall dwell in mourning
Through the terrible quakings of all the horrible signs.
And when these things have come to an end and passed away before the end,
The earth shall quake, and this door which thou hast made shall be opened.
At the end of times creatures and men shall make evil to increase,
And wickedness shall wax strong in all quarters of the earth, and the Lord shall be grieved,
And anger with fierce wrath shall rise up on mankind.
And the earth and vineyards and oliveyards and all plants shall be laid waste,
And woods and gardens; and the earth and mankind shall dwell in mourning.
And destructive winds shall go forth against creation,
And the Lord shall visit evil upon the world, upon the fertile lands.
And the nation that is within this gate shall be roused up,
And also the hosts of Agôg and of the peoples of Mâgôg shall be gathered together.
These peoples, the fiercest of all creatures,
Of the mighty house of Japhet [are they], of whom the Lord spake, saying:
‘They shall go forth on the earth and cover all creation like a locust.’”
The king marvelled at these things which he had heard from the angel
Whom the Lord had sent to him in a vision to teach him these things.
The watcher said: “When all the things that are written have been completed,
The Lord will command, and by His beck will be opened this door.
When the anger of the Lord waxes hot to slay men,
In His ill will He will rouse up the people of the house of Mâgôg against the lands.
In the seven‑thousandth year, in which the heavens and the earth shall be dissolved,
The hosts and troops shall go forth from their lands.
The thousands and the ranks and the assemblies without number shall come,
And shall stand behind this door, and shall give voice
With an exceeding great cry stronger than the wind and the loud thunder, saying:
‘O Lord, our Lord, open to us the gate that we may go forth on the earth.”
The mountains and the earth and mankind shall tremble at that time
By reason of that wrathful and angry and terrifying voice.
At that time the cry shall go forth among their ranks,
And the voice of the Lord shall overthrow the height of this door.
Over the threshold which carries this strong door
The hosts of horses and men shall tread and go forth.
Another host which shall go forth after the hosts.
……………………………… [A line appears to have fallen out here.]
The door and the bolts shall the Lord destroy and carry away.
The hosts which shall go forth from thence shall cover the earth.
In anger shall the hosts and the assemblies and the thousands go forth,
With drawn swords and bent bows and sharp arrows,
With wrath and murder and eager horses and pointed spears.
With great wrath shall each one of them pursue a thousand,
And through fear ten thousand shall flee away before two.
They will fly and settle down upon the quarters of the whole world,
And kings and hosts shall flee away before them.
The tips of the spears shall rub away the strength of that lintel,
And the beam which thou hast made with great strength above the door.
This door which thou hast made shall not be opened by a key.
At the end of times, shortly before the end, shall they go forth over the earth.
They shall not desire gold or silver or cattle,
Neither possessions nor the riches of this world.
These people shall go forth for slaughter and blood and strife,
And shall fly and fill the face of the world with wars and slaughters.
The assemblies of warriors shall not be delivered from them;
The whole creation shall totter and fall under the ruin.’
Concerning that day Isaiah cried, and the earth heard:
‘They shall not be eager for gold and silver and pearls,
Nor riches nor fine raiment nor possessions.
They shall dash weaned children on the stones without sparing,
And they shall rip up women with child and cast them down with their offspring.
The rivers of the whole world shall be accounted nothing by them,
And rough mountains and valleys and gorges shall not restrain them.
They shall rise up and go forth and fill the earth with their assemblies,
With war and captivity and strife and blood and great slaughter.
When the anger of the Lord waxes hot against the wicked,
He will send over the earth the people of Agôg and the people of Magôg.
Before the end of the world shall they go forth to destroy;
The earth will be drunk with the tumult of men and the mountains shall tremble.
He will come to Persia and will strip it and destroy it;
He will come to India and will cut it in pieces and destroy it;
He will overthrow Syria and pass over and terrify it;
He will destroy and lay waste and overthrow Cilicia;
He will make an end of Cappadocia and will slay the people thereof with terror.’”
And tremblings shall fall upon countries and upon their inhabitants,
And the earth shall be a desolation and a captivity and a whistling.
They shall cover the earth with arms and spears and polished swords,
And kings and governors shall not be able to stand before
Those who from God have received power over creation.
The voice of each one of them is stronger than that of a lion,
And one shall pursue a thousand, and two of them ten thousand.
Hateful and terrible, cruel and bitter and warlike are
The hosts of the children of Agôg and of the people of Magôg--
Tumultuous, evil, sinful, excitable, proud, unclean,
Filthy, haughty, and full of woe and great judgment.
They rend and devour the flesh of men and of beasts;
They all wash in blood which has flowed from mankind.’”
And when all these things had been spoken by the angel
To the wise king Alexander, the son of Philip,
The angel, in the spirit of the revelation of prophecy, told him
To write down these things and teach the world that these things would happen.
And when all these things had been said by the angel,
The Spirit of the Lord rested upon the king as upon Jeremiah,
And he wrote down hidden things like Daniel and like Isaiah.
He wrought mighty deeds and destroyed kings in their wars;
He destroyed idols like Hezekiah and like Josiah,
The just king who served truth and righteousness.
The earth shone through his wisdom, full of beauties,
And he wrote and showed everything that was to come like Daniel.
Alexander the king, the son of Philip, said:
“Let the kings and their ranks and their dominions tremble
On the day on which these people go forth over the earth at the end of times.
And men and all the quarters of the earth will anger the Lord of Hosts,
And His anger will rise and blot out the earth with an evil desolation.
Mighty Rûm from her greatness He shall throw down to the depth.
The seas shall roar, the earth shall cry out, and the mountains shall shriek;
The valleys shall fear, and towns and villages shall be desolated.
The vineyards shall be destroyed, and stupor shall fall upon the planters thereof.
Joy shall come to an end, and the power of all mighty men shall fall.
Beautiful things shall perish, riches shall fail, and power shall vanish.
Fountains shall fail, streets shall be destroyed, and the valleys shall be useless.
The hosts and filthy assemblies of the children of Mâgôg shall stand up,
And all creation shall become and remain a ruin.
And from the signs and bitter rumours
He that is wise will understand concerning the end.
Lebanon and Sânîr and their fellows shall be accounted nothing to him--
To the nation of Gog and Magog.
The mountains of Carmel shall not restrain the host that is with him.
His voice thunders, the rumour of him is terrible, and his strength is fearful.
His appearance is evil, his form huge and altogether harsh.
Deformed is his visage, violent is his strength, and dark is his colour.
His form is long, his weapon is sharp, and the whole of him is death.
Evil sounds and tremblings and rumours shall run before him,
And horrible things and captivities and famines and deaths and all evil things.
He shall quench the beauty of the sun and of the moon and of all luminaries;
The hills and the valleys shall put on darkness and sadness.
Laws shall come to an end and the whole earth shall dwell in mourning,
And the world shall become like a desolate and a sterile thing.
Depict in me, O our Lord, the beauty of Thy word in a loving way,
That I may preach the sign of the day of Thy coming as far as I am able.
That great nation which is perverse in its works,
And bears woe and is full of wrath and slaughter and death--
For evil captivity and destruction do they prepare with great wrath;
For spoil and slaughter are they all ready without ceasing.
They all threaten with power, and there is wrath in their cursings;
Mountains and valleys and plains tremble at them.
And great woe shall be upon those who are with child and those who give suck,
And mourning and pain upon young men and maidens--
Weeping for the children being slain through the cutting off of hope,
And for the youths also being cut off by the baleful ones.
The heavens and the earth will put on pain and sadness,
And the assemblies of celestial beings will be astonished in those days.
Quaking will fall upon the living and the dead at that time,
Through the slaughter and blood of the children of Mâgôg before the end.
A renowned people will stir up strife in the lands,
And cast tumult among cities and towns--
An ugly people, a people flayed and uprooted and full of blemishes,
Of the children of Agôg and of the house of Mâgôg with their fellows.
In abundance will they come to Palestine madly;
They will uproot and destroy its cities and slay its people.
The race of men, nation after nation, will roar and cry out;
Joy and gladness shall cease and woe will reign.
Weeping and spoiling and wickedness and all sadness shall increase.
They will uproot walls and towers and streets and towns,
And they shall become mounds, and stupor shall fall upon all creation.
Come, O Jeremiah, the prophet of the Spirit and of revelation,
And take up bitter cries of lamentation concerning that day.
The prophet says: ‘Woe to thee, O land, for a mighty nation
Is sent against thee; with arms and captivity shall he destroy thy children.’
The prophet says: ‘Thus shall all creation be
For a great astonishment and for a treading down, for slaughter and disgrace.
All creation shall kneel and fall down before that nation,
And the earth shall be destroyed of its inhabitants with great slaughter.
The priests and their flocks shall seize a place of respite
And take up tears and lamentation bitterly.
Flocks and herds and cows and oxen shall dwell in mourning.’
The prophet says: ‘Woe to thee, O earth, what is this nation,
Harsh of speech, which slays and destroys without sparing?
The keepers of vineyards shall weep over the vineyards through sorrow,
And all the dwellings of the shepherds shall dwell in mourning.’
The earth shall say: ‘Woe is me, for I have seen all revolutions
With evil quakings and disturbed horrible things full of misery.’
For to them will the Lord cry in anger at the end of times,
And as with a broom will the Lord sweep and purge it,
And He will overturn it and rend it and destroy it.
Gloomy and sorry and full of darkness shall be the days and months
Before the coming of the sinful people of the children of Mâgôg.
In these days the living will ascribe happiness to the dead,
By reason of the disturbance and quaking and slaughter and blood.
They shall not, however, enter into Jerusalem, the city of the Lord;
For the sign of the Lord shall drive them away from it, and they shall not enter it.
All the saints shall fly away from them to mount Sânîr--
All faithful true ones and the good and all the wise.
They shall not be able to approach mount Sinai, for it is the dwelling place of the Lord,
Nor to the high mountains of Sinai with their shame.
By Jerusalem shall fall by the sword the hosts
Of the children of Agôg and of the house of Mâgôg with great slaughter.
After these things shall the days full of trouble decrease,
And evil shall come and stand in the world with great trembling.
And the earth shall be drunk with the blood and slaughter of their ranks,
For the sword of a man shall fall upon his fellow with great amazement.
And if it were possible for the mountains and the earth and the stones
And the sea and the dry land to weep, they would weep for the whole world.
O how much more bitter than the slaughter of the sword and the blood of the spear
Is the affliction of the cursed children of the great family of Japhet!
For they shall lead away captive and subdue the earth and all people.
The prophet says: ‘Thus shall all creation be
For a great astonishment and for a treading down, for slaughter and disgrace.
All creation shall kneel and fall down before that nation,
And the earth shall be destroyed of its inhabitants with great slaughter.
The priests and their flocks shall seize a place of respite,
And take up tears and lamentation bitterly.
Flocks and herds and cows and oxen shall dwell in mourning.’
The prophet says: ‘Woe to thee, O earth, what is this nation,
Harsh of speech, which slays and destroys without sparing?
The keepers of vineyards shall weep over the vineyards through sorrow,
And all the dwellings of the shepherds shall dwell in mourning.’
The earth shall say: ‘Woe is me, for I have seen all revolutions,
With evil quakings and disturbed horrible things full of misery.’
For to them will the Lord cry in anger at the end of times,
And as with a broom will the Lord sweep and purge it,
And He will overturn it and rend it and destroy it.
Gloomy and sorry and full of darkness shall be the days and months
Before the coming of the sinful people of the children of Mâgôg.
In these days the living will ascribe happiness to the dead,
By reason of the disturbance and quaking and slaughter and blood.
They shall not, however, enter into Jerusalem, the city of the Lord;
For the sign of the Lord shall drive them away from it, and they shall not enter it.
All the saints shall fly away from them to mount Sânîr--
All faithful true ones and the good and all the wise.
They shall not be able to approach mount Sinai, for it is the dwelling place of the Lord,
Nor to the high mountains of Sinai with their shame.
By Jerusalem shall fall by the sword the hosts
Of the children of Agôg and of the house of Mâgôg with great slaughter.
After these things shall the days full of trouble decrease,
And evil shall come and stand in the world with great trembling.
And the earth shall be drunk with the blood and slaughter of their ranks,
For the sword of a man shall fall upon his fellow with great amazement.
And if it were possible for the mountains and the earth and the stones
And the sea and the dry land to weep, they would weep for the whole world.
O how much more bitter than the slaughter of the sword and the blood of the spear
Is the affliction of the cursed children of the great family of Japhet!
For they shall lead away captive and subdue the earth and all people.
Then the hosts of Agôg and of the house of Mâgôg shall go forth,
And man shall fall upon his fellow, and nation upon nation,
And the quaking of the earth and the sword of anger shall be there.
On the skirts of Zion shall the bodies of the dead lie in heaps.
And after these things the earth shall be desolated of mankind;
Villages shall be destroyed and all towns and cities;
The scattered ones only remain in the earth as a remnant.
Then shall Antichrist rise upon the whole earth.
Through that gate shall go forth and come that rebel;
That lying one shall Christ overthrow as is promised.
There shall stand up before him demons and spirits and wicked devils,
And they shall gather together all creation to their cursed master.
The earth shall cry out: ‘I entreat Thee, O Lord, in Thy mercy to spare me,
For, behold, I am sick and persecuted with all wounds.’
“These things which I have spoken shall come to pass before the end of the world,
And let him that hath an ear of love listen to them.”
These beautiful things did king Alexander interpret,
That they should all take place before that day at the end.
And after these things the heavens and the earth will put on pain,
And times and days and months in their courses will cease,
And will not again return to the earth from whence they came.
When the assemblies of the thousands of the children of Agôg and of the house of Mâgôg
Have destroyed all constituted things with a great slaughter,
Creation, weeping and lamenting, will cry out, saying:
‘What wilt thou do more?’
The earth will say: ‘Let the assemblies of the height entreat for me
Thy great name, the power which bears the height and the depth.’
O Jesus, look upon me in mercy and love, I entreat Thee;
May I see Thee in peace when Thou risest with Thy angels!
The whole creation shall totter and fall with great quaking,
By reason of the signs; the end cometh, it is not far off.
By Jerusalem shall perish and come to an end the hosts
Of the children of Agôg and of the house of Mâgôg together with their fellows,
And there shall that lying one be put to shame in his infidelity,
And the whole baneful company of idolatry shall be overcome.
Little by little shall be filled the web of all this world,
That it may incline and come speedily to the end.
The Lord will look upon the earth with wrath and great anger,
And it shall pass away and become nothing; but He shall not pass away.
Out of the north then shall come evil to all the earth,
And Isaiah cried to creation on account of this.”
O Jesus, O King in Whose hands are the height and the depth,
In Thee shall the Church and her children take refuge from trouble.
Blessed be the Good One Who stretched out the height and Who laid out the earth.
They shall pass away, but Thou shalt stand, O Lord, our Lord.
…………………………………………………………………
And power to all His servants and the victory of might.
From the celestial and from the terrestrial beings to Thee be praise,
For Thy grace and compassion and mercy upon sinners.
Blessed be the Lord who gave victory to Alexander,
And he conquered and destroyed the inhabitants of the lands.
Grant unto me, O Lord, a mouth that I may preach Thy great glory,
That it may cry out before Thee on the day of Thy revelation, “Glory to Thee.”
And to the readers and the writer of this book may there be remission of sins,
And to the hearer and the doer may there be propitiation.
Here endeth the discourse upon Alexander
And upon the gate which he made towards the north.
Yea and Amen.
By Whose victory the righteous have been victorious in their wars.
In love, O Lord, give me speech from Thy doctrine,
That the speech of wonder may run among the listeners.
Through the knowledge which is sanctified' from corporeal thoughts
Will I sing to Thee [with] sounds of glory in the congregations.
From Thee shall my pain-bearing tongue put on armour,
With understanding and the word full of life and of all good things.
Overshadow my feebleness with the compassion of Thy sweetness,
And we shall possess riches from
Thy gift full of beauties.
And Thee, O Lord, shall my feeble mouth preach with a loud voice.
O Jesus, the Light, Who redeemed creation by His crucifixion,
Thee are the fiery hosts eager to praise,
With glory and power will I sing unto Thee bowing low in adoration.
The fiery Cherubim bear Thee, O Lord, upon their wings,
And the fiery ranks ascribe to Thy name all adoration.
The watchers of the height bow down in trembling to praise [Thee],
But how can I, the feeble one, speak of Thee?
The fiery hosts bless Thee, O Lord, with holiness,
And with them the assemblies of the house of Gabriel ascribe honour [to Thee].
The terrible Seraphim adore Thee, O Lord, with their hymns,
But I, the wretched one, how can I bring forth glory to Thy
The captains of the hosts and the hosts of heavenly beings,
Glorify [Thee] with trembling, though their songs are beautiful. O Good One,
Who bindest on the crowns of kings and governors,
Grant that I may speak about the kingdom of the son of
This king, full of wisdom, gathered together to his dominion[s]
The captains of the hosts and the hosts with their ranks.
And when the captains of thousands and all the wise men were gathered together,
Lords and governors and warriors,
Then began Alexander, the son of Philip,
To speak with them, while they marvelled at his discourses.
The king, the son of Philip the Macedonian, said,
"I desire greatly to go forth and see countries,
And also what is the condition of lands far away
I will also go forth and see seas and boundaries and all the quarters of the world;
And more than all (I desire] to go in and see the Land of Darkness,
If it is in truth as I have heard it is.
All these things were spoken by the king
To the captains of the hosts and to the captains of thousands and to the lords.
And after he had subdued Macedonia which had rebelled against him,
He went down and dwelt in the chief town of all Egypt,
And he bound on the crown, and he became greater and stronger than all kings.
When the question went forth from him to the chiefs,
They said to him, “Master, the terrible seas which surround the world
Will not allow thee to go over and see the land.”
The king marvelled at what he had heard from his subjects (lit. dominion),
And he began to speak to his hosts like a wise man.
The king said, “Have ye been and seen the seas
Which, according to what ye say, surround the whole earth?”
They say to him, "Master, within these terrible seas
Is the fœtid sea, which, of a truth, is full of quaking.
And unless men decree death to their lives with great wrath
They never come to the fœtid sea."
The king said, "Let us go and see if, of a truth",
The terrible seas and the fœtid sea [are] as we have heard."
They say to him, "Master, thy wisdom hath well commanded;
Let us gather together" the hosts and go and see the countries."
The command went forth from the king speedily,
And he assembled straightway the hosts in great multitude.
He gathered together riders, and captains of thousands, and lofty seats,
And ready soldiers, and mighty men dressed in armour,
And horses and men; and the king marvelled at his forces.
Then the wise king in his wisdom commanded,
"Let ships be prepared for the host'.
Let also men be taken who have gone and seen the land
And the countries and the terrible seas and the fœtid sea."
He made ready a great multitude of ships for his hosts",
And he filled them with all kinds of food for horse and man.
The believing king Alexander, the son of Philip,
In his wisdom did this, and his heart rejoiced
Because the people were gathered together to him quickly.
He took the number of his troops of the Âmôrâyê”,
One thousand three hundred and many more with polished armour.
And he sent and told Sôrîk the king of all Egypt
To send to him from his dominions all the artificers,
Workers in brass and iron, men full of skill,
For the Lord had beckoned to him to make a gate against Mâgôg.
Twelve thousand cunning workmen
Did Sôrîk" the king of Egypt send to the son of Philip.
King Alexander made ready iron and brass a great quantity,
And, in his wisdom, he filled the ships therewith.
He alone knew this mystery,
Which Jeremiah, in his prophecy, had prophesied concerning him.
The great king went forth with his subjects,
The horns sounded and the thousands and the ranks were gathered together and went forth.
The camp rose up and went forth, and the king marvelled,
And his hosts began to go down into the great sea.
The earth was astonished at the rumour of king Alexander.
The king set his course on the sea towards India;
After four months the king and his host went up from the sea,
And spread abroad in the land, and creation was filled with their hosts.
Quaking fell upon the lands and their inhabitants
By reason of the multitude of the hosts which terrified them.
And they went and came and drew near to the border of the fœtid sea,
And they departed by reason of its stench, they fled away from its noise, and the king's soul was astonished.
And he made straight his way towards the lofty mountain Mâsîs,
He ascended the mountain and stood upon its summit and looked at the lands,
And with him were all the thousands and ranks and hosts.
The king, the son of Philip the Macedonian, said
To the hosts, "Let us straightway go forth by the way of the north."
The king went in and took possession of (lit. stood upon) the lands, and [the people] feared him,
And fled away from him, for his great fame made them flee away.
When the king saw that the inhabitants of the land trembled at him,
He sent before him some of his ambassadors to proclaim peace, [saying]
"Let the people remain, and let no man flee before them (i. e., the hosts)."
He gave the word and swore by his life through the heralds,
"I will not slay, nor carry away captive, nor destroy."
The heralds cried, "Alexander the great king
Has come to this land in peace, neither slaying,
Nor leading away into captivity, nor carrying away spoil',
Let every man dwell in his habitation in peace and without fear!
Let the nobles and the aged men of the country go to him,
For he has given the word of his mouth which never lies."
He in his wisdom gathered together and brought the nobles and the aged,
That he might learn from them of the matter of the secrets of the land".
Three hundred old, greyheaded men were gathered together to him,
Intelligent men who knew the secrets of the land'.
They went in and stood before the glorious king, and did reverence unto him",
And they saw his glory and his speech and his strength, and they feared him,
And they entreated him and besought him to have mercy upon them.
They say to him, "Master, may thy crown be magnified over all the world,
May thy fame and name overthrow kings and their dominions!"
The king rejoiced to be blessed by the old men,
And he commanded them to sit on his right hand and on his left'.
When they had sat down according to the command of the great king,
He began to question [them] wisely, saying,
"One thing my soul asketh you to show me,
Where is the Land of Darkness? I wish to see it."
They say to him, "Master, why seekest thou the Land of Darkness?
Every one who hears the mention" of it flees that he may not enter therein.
Some men, in their audacity, dared to enter therein,
And they went and perished and unto this day have not returned and come forth."
The king said, "Our coming to this land was on account of this,
And there is no other way' for me but to see it."
The old men say, "There is a great mountain
The length of the road to which from here is twelve days."
The king said, "Give me men who know the country,
And as for the way, however far it may be, it will not be tedious to me."
There was one old, greyheaded man there
Who knew the way and was experienced in the mysteries of the country.
This old man answered and said to Alexander,
"I will go with thy majesty and show thee."
Then the heart of the king rejoiced and his face became glad;
And he took the old men and the nobles and they went with him.
And when he had come to the country in which was the Land of Darkness
While as yet they were ten parasangs distant from the place,
One wise old man who knew mysteries answered and
Said to the king, "Reveal to me the mystery and hide not it from me,
What is thy quest in the Land of Darkness? what [will it] profit [thee]?
And why hast thou come to the land in which there is no light?”
The king said, "I have heard that therein is the fountain of life,
And I desire greatly to go forth and see if, of a truth, it is [there]."
The old man said, "There are many fountains in the country,
And no man knoweth which is the fountain of the water of life."
The king said, "Do not dispute with me1 concerning this matter,
For there is no other way for me but to go in and see the country."
Then the old man answered and said to him in his wisdom,
"Since the matter is thus, seek out beasts from among the she-asses,
All of whom have young and give suck.
According to the number of the men whom thou wishest to go into [the land] with thee
Let them bring beasts, and let them also bring their young with them."
The command went forth from the king full of wisdom,
And the people of the country went forth from him and gathered together and brought five hundred beasts from among the she-asses.
After these things the old man said to the son of Philip,
"Command thy cook to take with him a salt fish, and wherever he sees a fountain of water let him wash the fish;
And if it be that it comes to life in his hands when he washes it,
That is the fountain of the water of life which thou askest for, O king."
And when he arrived at the door which goeth into the Land of Darkness',
The king said to his cook", "Take thou a dry fish,
And where thou seest a fountain of water, wash it.
And if it be that the fish comes to life in thy hand when thou washest it,
Reveal it to me and show me which is the fountain when thou hast found it."
The old man said, "Let the foals remain outside the door,
For if they come in with us we shall perish."
The king mounted and the chosen people that were with him,
And they began to go in, and they left the young asses outside the door;
And they then began to go down into the darkness,
Without knowing whither they were travelling in the land.
And when the cook came to water he alighted and began to wash
The salt fish; and it did not come to life in his hand as had been said'.
Finally he came to a fountain in which was the water of life,
And he drew near to wash the fish in the water, and it came to life and escaped.
The faulty one feared lest the king would require at his hand
That he should return to him the fish which came to life without impediment',
And he leaped down into the water to catch it, but he was not able.
And he went up from the fountain to tell the king that he had found the [fountain of life].
He cried out and they heard him not, he went to the mountain and then they heard him.
Then the king rejoiced that he had heard of the fountain,
And he went back to bathe in it as he had asked.
He went to the mountain in the darkness but he did not stand upon it,
And it was not granted to him by the Lord that he should live [for ever],
And he was grieved about this even unto death.
And when the old man saw that he was afflicted with grief, [he said],
"The Lord hath not turned His face away from thee, O king."
The old man said, "Let us turn our beasts and let us go forth from here;
For the Lord does not wish thee to bathe in the fountain' and live for ever."
They turned the beasts and they whipped them and they went out to their young ones.
The king turned being grieved that he had not accomplished the matter.
And the nobles came and comforted him by reason of [his] grief [saying],
"Master, be not afflicted on account of this, and let it not be grievous unto thee.
Look, master, and observe the early and middle generations,
That to each one of them has come its end and it has passed away and gone."
And Alexander in his wisdom began to ask questions, [saying,]
"What are these nations who are beyond you?
Has any king obtained sovereignty in this land'?"
The wise men' looked upon this king full of wisdom [and saw]
How joyful he was at the advice of the old men and nobles of the country.
The old men say, "This is the dominion of Tûbarlika
The great king of the house of the Persians and of the Amôrâyê.
Within it are the peoples of the house of Japhet and of the house of Mâgôg,
A cunning nation, a flayed nation, an uprooted nation."
The king said, "Have we a mountain from here onwards'?”
The old men say, "As far as the river Kallath and [as far as] Halôrîs' [are]
Fearful, savage and lofty mountains with great terror,
And beyond them terrible mountains, a great boundary
Which God hath set between us and them from all eternity."
The old men say, "It is altogether a difficult land
In which there are dragons and wild beasts and serpents,
And unless men pass the sentence of death upon their lives
They are not able to dwell with dragons and snakes."
Then the great king Alexander answered
In his wisdom, "How can we pass through the mountains?"
He commanded and they brought armour, and he made every beast to carry [some of it].
The horses rattled the bells and the armour, and they passed through the land3.
The old men say, "Look1, my lord the king, and see a wonder,
This mountain which God has set as a great boundary."
King Alexander the son of Philip said,
"How far is the extent of this mountain?"
The old men say, "Beyond India it extends in its appearance."
The king said, "How far does this side come?"
The old men say, "Unto all the ends of the earth."
And wonder seized the great king at the counsel of the old men,
And he began to ask questions to learn more about everything.
The king said, "Who are these kings
And the terrible peoples which are beyond this mountain ?"
The old men say, "Listen", O Master, and king; and we will tell thee.
Behold, the family of Agôg and the family of Mâgôg are beyond us,
Terrible of aspect, hateful of form, of all heights,
The stature of each one of them is from six to seven cubits;
Their noses are flat and their foreheads hateful.
They bathe in blood, and in blood wash they also their heads;
They drink blood and eat the flesh of men;
They wear skins, sharpen weapons and forge wrath,
And are more ferocious and have more wars than all other nations'.
Where the wrath of the Lord rises he sends them;
And they overturn the land, and uproot mountains, and devour men."
Then the son of Philip was grieved because he heard these things,
And he marvelled at this greatly within himself a long time.
Little by little he learned and understood everything which he asked,
And he had it in his mind to make there a great gate.
His mind was full of spiritual thoughts,
While taking advice from the old men, the dwellers in the land.
He looked at the mountain which encircled the whole world,
The great boundary which God had established from everlasting.
The king said, "Where have the hosts come forth
To plunder the land and all the world from of old?"
They show him a place in the middle of the mountains,
A narrow pass which had been constructed by God.
The king looked upon the narrow pass with wonderment,
And [saw] that the mountain extended' and was terrible in its strength on all sides.
Above it he saw a river of blood flowing down,
And like a torrent of water flowing on against the people.
He examined it that he might make there a great door
Full of wonder in all the world to him that sees it.
The Spirit of the Lord stirred up the king, the son of Philip,
With all thoughts to restrain wickedness from the lands.
Letters went to Tûbarlîkî the king of Persia, [saying,]
"Alexander the great king is in thy country,
He is not carrying away captive, nor slaying, nor spoiling,
Though he has with him countless hosts of men.
He dwells peacefully in thy land as if it
And the royalty and the dominion were his own."
When the king of Persia received this report
From the ambassadors who went into his presence with the letters,
Wonder took hold of the king of Persia on account of this,
And he trembled and was disturbed by the noise of the rumour of the great king.
And he sent and gathered together the forces that were in his dominion,
And he assembled and brought sixty-two other kings
To come to his aid and to help him with their hosts;
And they all gathered together and covered the earth like locusts.
And in great wrath all the kings took counsel
To go up against him and destroy him and blot out his name.
When all the kings with their hosts arrived,
And drew near to go in and throw war into the camp,
King Alexander, the son of Philip, lay down to sleep,
And he saw in his dream an angel saying to him,
They bathe in blood, and in blood wash they also their heads;
They drink blood and eat the flesh of men;
They wear skins, sharpen weapons and forge wrath,
And are more ferocious and have more wars than all other nations'.
Where the wrath of the Lord rises he sends them;
And they overturn the land, and uproot mountains, and devour men."
Then the son of Philip was grieved because he heard these things,
And he marvelled at this greatly within himself a long time.
Little by little he learned and understood everything which he asked,
And he had it in his mind to make there a great gate.
His mind was full of spiritual thoughts,
While taking advice from the old men, the dwellers in the land.
He looked at the mountain which encircled the whole world,
The great boundary which God had established from everlasting.
The king said, "Where have the hosts come forth
To plunder the land and all the world from of old?"
They show him a place in the middle of the mountains,
A narrow pass which had been constructed by God.
The king looked upon the narrow pass with wonderment,
And [saw] that the mountain extended' and was terrible in its strength on all sides.
Above it he saw a river of blood flowing down,
And like a torrent of water flowing on against the people.
He examined it that he might make there a great door
Full of wonder in all the world to him that sees it.
The Spirit of the Lord stirred up the king, the son of Philip,
With all thoughts to restrain wickedness from the lands.
Letters went to Tûbarlîkî the king of Persia, [saying,]
"Alexander the great king is in thy country,
He is not carrying away captive, nor slaying, nor spoiling,
Though he has with him countless hosts of men.
He dwells peacefully in thy land as if it
And the royalty and the dominion were his own."
When the king of Persia received this report
From the ambassadors who went into his presence with the letters,
Wonder took hold of the king of Persia on account of this,
And he trembled and was disturbed by the noise of the rumour of the great king.
And he sent and gathered together the forces that were in his dominion,
And he assembled and brought sixty-two other kings
To come to his aid and to help him with their hosts;
And they all gathered together and covered the earth like locusts.
And in great wrath all the kings took counsel
To go up against him and destroy him and blot out his name.
When all the kings with their hosts arrived,
And drew near to go in and throw war into the camp,
King Alexander, the son of Philip, lay down to sleep,
And he saw in his dream an angel saying to him,
“Behold, Tûbarlîkî the king of Persia has gathered together a host,
And has also hired him sixty‑two other kings.
Arise, prevail over their hosts, and destroy them;
For, behold, God has come and stood within thy camp; He will make thee victorious, and will help thee, and will make thee to triumph.
Thou shalt conquer them all through the right hand of the Lord that is with thee.”
Then Alexander awoke and rose up from his sleep,
And he called to the nobles and the captains of hundreds and the captains of thousands,
And he began to speak and command his troops, saying:
“Behold, the Lord hath come to our aid and to our help.
Come, let us stand praying to the Lord with strength.”
And the king commanded all the people to take incense,
And they burned there a sweet odour to the Lord among their ranks.
The king and the nobles and the hosts that were with him
Carried upon stones and sherds fire and sweet incense.
And after they had burned incense in the camp,
The king began to speak and to exhort his troops, saying:
“Behold, the time of great strife and battle has come.
Put on your breastplates and gird upon you all your armour;
Put your helmets upon your heads and stand up for war like men.
For behold, Tûbarlîkî the king of Persia has gathered to himself a host,
And has also hired sixty‑two other kings.
And behold, they are all gathered together like one man with their hosts,
That they may come against us and wipe out our name and our kingdom.
Stand up then to war like men and warriors,
And receive triumph and a fair renown for evermore.”
He made ready and furnished the hosts, the children of Rûm,
With armour and breastplates that they might not be terror‑stricken in the fight.
The wise king encouraged his hosts
That they should neither be terror‑stricken nor moved by the enemies’ hosts, saying:
“I have hope in God, Whom I serve,
That He will make us victorious and triumphant in our wars with them.”
When Alexander had finished speaking
And encouraging his hosts for the battle,
His hosts stood up and put on their armour and breastplates,
And were ready to fight like men.
Then the king of Persia looked from the top of the mountain,
And these sixty‑two kings with their hosts
Descended and came against the camp of Alexander.
And he made there a great slaughter among their ranks,
And the believing king Alexander prevailed,
And slew sixty‑two kings and a multitude of the host.
Tûbarlîkî the king of Persia he captured alive,
And he fettered him with heavy iron fetters and bound him prisoner near to him.
Then the hosts which remained fled away from him,
And forsook their king and escaped to another land.
And when Alexander had thus gained the victory,
He buried the slain and took their arms.
Then he courageously took pains and made a door
Against Agôg and the family of Magog, and bound them inside.
He took iron and brass, a great quantity, and made it ready
For the making of the door, that he might shut it in the face of the people.
He gave his commands to twelve thousand skilled, ready workmen
Whom Sôrîk the king of Egypt had given to him from his dominion.
He, the wise man, called the workmen and taught them
How they should make the length and breadth of it with great strength.
He measured the ground of the narrow pass between the mountains,
That he might shut in the peoples of the house of Mâgôg until the end.
The king in his wisdom measured from mountain to mountain,
Twelve cubits in the strength of his power.
The king said, “Make ye a threshold for the whole pass,
And let it be sunk in the mountain on this side and on that.”
They made it of great height and breadth, four cubits;
Its length and extent was twelve cubits of a strong man.
On each side of the mountain he sunk the head of the threshold,
On both sides two cubits of a strong man.
He made a lintel over the door, over all the pass,
And sunk it in the mountains on both sides for the whole width of the door.
He made it six cubits wide and six cubits high with skill,
Of iron and brass, a marvellous work, the like of which there is not.
The hosts erected and fixed the door there
In all the threshold, above and below, as in clay.
He put bolts into the threshold and into the door,
And sunk them in so that no man knew where they fitted together.
For all the lintel over the door against the wind,
The king made strong posts of brass and iron.
On this side of these he made bolts of great strength:
Twelve cubits was its length and two cubits its breadth,
A cubit and a half was the thickness of the bolt with cunning work;
And it held fast the wood, the bolts, the door, and the two sides of the mountain,
That they might not be unloosed.
The king fixed doors and beams and bolts in the two sides of the mountain,
And another bolt of brass and iron, in his wisdom.
He fixed the door, and wonder and quietness and rest and silence
Came over the peoples of the house of Mâgôg, who had not perceived the building.
King Alexander made haste and made the door
Against the north, and against the spoilers and the children of Mâgôg.
In the sixth month he finished the building of the whole door.
And the king and all his army marvelled, and their hearts rejoiced
That the whole work of the royal building had been built--
A work of which wisdom and intelligence had laid the foundations.
Ambassadors went forth into the countries and lands
And proclaimed the great work of the terrible door which the king had made.
After these things the king, the son of Philip, said:
“It is meet that we make a great feast to the Lord in this land,
For He came to help us and destroyed our enemies,
And He has helped us and straightway completed this building.”
The king said, “Let us take incense, and let all the people
Burn it here for a sweet smell to the Lord among their assemblies.”
The king and the nobles and the hosts that were with him
Carried fire and sweet incense upon stones and sherds.
They burnt pure incense among the ranks and the thousands and the assemblies,
On the new festival upon which was built the great work.
The king said, “If the Lord come into our camp
And find it of sweet odour, peradventure He will dwell therein.”
And after they had burnt incense, king Alexander commanded
That all the people of the palace should rejoice and be glad.
The king set in order rich foods for all his hosts,
And gave [……] to the captains of thousands that they might […..].
The king commanded that there should be set forth meat
For the assembly of his hosts,
And that they should make glad at the table according to their ranks.
He made a feast for the old men and the nobles and the captains of thousands,
And they made glad at the table in a loving manner.
The king rejoiced in that building full of cunning works,
Because he had become triumphant through the victory which God had given him.
And having thus rejoiced at the table,
At midday, at the time of noon, the king rested
On a couch of gold, in perfect love and belief.
Then the Lord answered him in a vision, with great wonder,
And He sent a watcher of fire to him beyond all expectation.
The king saw that fiery being in a dream, and feared,
And he spake with him all hidden and terrible things.
The watcher said, “The Lord sent me that I might come to thee,
And inform thee what it is meet for thee to do with Tûbarlîkî.
Rise up and make peace with Tûbarlîkî, the king of Persia,
And take away from him the land of Egypt and the land of Jabûs.
Take from him the land of Palestine and the Hebrews’ country,
And the whole land of Syria and Mesopotamia.
Take from him Phoenicia and Cilicia,
Cappadocia, Galatia and Phrygia,
Also Asia and the territory of the Greeks and Seleucia.
Take his dominion until thou comest to Kalkîdîâ.
Take his dominion and set the river Kallath as a boundary for yourselves,
And let not one of you pass over the boundary which ye set for him.”
The Lord spake by the hand of the angel, [saying]:
“I will magnify thee more than all the kings and governors in all the world.
This great gate which thou hast made in this land
Shall be closed until the end of times cometh.
Jeremiah also prophesied concerning it, and the earth hath heard:
‘The gate of the north shall be opened on the day of the end of the world,
And on that day shall evil go forth on the wicked.’”
“There shall be woe to those who are with child,
And to those who give suck.
The Lord says: ‘In the seven‑thousandth year
There shall be rumours and dire quakings in all countries.
Sin and wickedness and all evil things shall increase in the world--
Envy, craftiness, adultery, murder, and all hateful things,
Lying and slander of the children of wickedness.
Fraud and pride shall increase in the earth,
And haughtiness and lasciviousness and infidelity,
And schisms and contentions shall fall among the children of men.
The heavens shall be like darkness and the earth shall quake,
And the love of many shall wax cold in these days.
And wars and captivities and death shall increase among the children of men.
And there shall be famines and cruel wars in various countries,
And there shall be tumults also in the islands that are in the sea.
And the sun and the moon and the stars shall be dark in their risings,
And the earth shall be devoured by fire and locusts and mighty hail.
The ends of the earth shall tremble with the noise of the thundering in all lands,
And winter and winds and storms and lightnings and mighty earthquakes.
The heavens shall become like smoke through darkness,
The sea shall be troubled, and wickedness shall increase in all the world.
Towns and cities and villages shall dwell in mourning
Through the terrible quakings of all the horrible signs.
And when these things have come to an end and passed away before the end,
The earth shall quake, and this door which thou hast made shall be opened.
At the end of times creatures and men shall make evil to increase,
And wickedness shall wax strong in all quarters of the earth, and the Lord shall be grieved,
And anger with fierce wrath shall rise up on mankind.
And the earth and vineyards and oliveyards and all plants shall be laid waste,
And woods and gardens; and the earth and mankind shall dwell in mourning.
And destructive winds shall go forth against creation,
And the Lord shall visit evil upon the world, upon the fertile lands.
And the nation that is within this gate shall be roused up,
And also the hosts of Agôg and of the peoples of Mâgôg shall be gathered together.
These peoples, the fiercest of all creatures,
Of the mighty house of Japhet [are they], of whom the Lord spake, saying:
‘They shall go forth on the earth and cover all creation like a locust.’”
The king marvelled at these things which he had heard from the angel
Whom the Lord had sent to him in a vision to teach him these things.
The watcher said: “When all the things that are written have been completed,
The Lord will command, and by His beck will be opened this door.
When the anger of the Lord waxes hot to slay men,
In His ill will He will rouse up the people of the house of Mâgôg against the lands.
In the seven‑thousandth year, in which the heavens and the earth shall be dissolved,
The hosts and troops shall go forth from their lands.
The thousands and the ranks and the assemblies without number shall come,
And shall stand behind this door, and shall give voice
With an exceeding great cry stronger than the wind and the loud thunder, saying:
‘O Lord, our Lord, open to us the gate that we may go forth on the earth.”
The mountains and the earth and mankind shall tremble at that time
By reason of that wrathful and angry and terrifying voice.
At that time the cry shall go forth among their ranks,
And the voice of the Lord shall overthrow the height of this door.
Over the threshold which carries this strong door
The hosts of horses and men shall tread and go forth.
Another host which shall go forth after the hosts.
……………………………… [A line appears to have fallen out here.]
The door and the bolts shall the Lord destroy and carry away.
The hosts which shall go forth from thence shall cover the earth.
In anger shall the hosts and the assemblies and the thousands go forth,
With drawn swords and bent bows and sharp arrows,
With wrath and murder and eager horses and pointed spears.
With great wrath shall each one of them pursue a thousand,
And through fear ten thousand shall flee away before two.
They will fly and settle down upon the quarters of the whole world,
And kings and hosts shall flee away before them.
The tips of the spears shall rub away the strength of that lintel,
And the beam which thou hast made with great strength above the door.
This door which thou hast made shall not be opened by a key.
At the end of times, shortly before the end, shall they go forth over the earth.
They shall not desire gold or silver or cattle,
Neither possessions nor the riches of this world.
These people shall go forth for slaughter and blood and strife,
And shall fly and fill the face of the world with wars and slaughters.
The assemblies of warriors shall not be delivered from them;
The whole creation shall totter and fall under the ruin.’
Concerning that day Isaiah cried, and the earth heard:
‘They shall not be eager for gold and silver and pearls,
Nor riches nor fine raiment nor possessions.
They shall dash weaned children on the stones without sparing,
And they shall rip up women with child and cast them down with their offspring.
The rivers of the whole world shall be accounted nothing by them,
And rough mountains and valleys and gorges shall not restrain them.
They shall rise up and go forth and fill the earth with their assemblies,
With war and captivity and strife and blood and great slaughter.
When the anger of the Lord waxes hot against the wicked,
He will send over the earth the people of Agôg and the people of Magôg.
Before the end of the world shall they go forth to destroy;
The earth will be drunk with the tumult of men and the mountains shall tremble.
He will come to Persia and will strip it and destroy it;
He will come to India and will cut it in pieces and destroy it;
He will overthrow Syria and pass over and terrify it;
He will destroy and lay waste and overthrow Cilicia;
He will make an end of Cappadocia and will slay the people thereof with terror.’”
And tremblings shall fall upon countries and upon their inhabitants,
And the earth shall be a desolation and a captivity and a whistling.
They shall cover the earth with arms and spears and polished swords,
And kings and governors shall not be able to stand before
Those who from God have received power over creation.
The voice of each one of them is stronger than that of a lion,
And one shall pursue a thousand, and two of them ten thousand.
Hateful and terrible, cruel and bitter and warlike are
The hosts of the children of Agôg and of the people of Magôg--
Tumultuous, evil, sinful, excitable, proud, unclean,
Filthy, haughty, and full of woe and great judgment.
They rend and devour the flesh of men and of beasts;
They all wash in blood which has flowed from mankind.’”
And when all these things had been spoken by the angel
To the wise king Alexander, the son of Philip,
The angel, in the spirit of the revelation of prophecy, told him
To write down these things and teach the world that these things would happen.
And when all these things had been said by the angel,
The Spirit of the Lord rested upon the king as upon Jeremiah,
And he wrote down hidden things like Daniel and like Isaiah.
He wrought mighty deeds and destroyed kings in their wars;
He destroyed idols like Hezekiah and like Josiah,
The just king who served truth and righteousness.
The earth shone through his wisdom, full of beauties,
And he wrote and showed everything that was to come like Daniel.
Alexander the king, the son of Philip, said:
“Let the kings and their ranks and their dominions tremble
On the day on which these people go forth over the earth at the end of times.
And men and all the quarters of the earth will anger the Lord of Hosts,
And His anger will rise and blot out the earth with an evil desolation.
Mighty Rûm from her greatness He shall throw down to the depth.
The seas shall roar, the earth shall cry out, and the mountains shall shriek;
The valleys shall fear, and towns and villages shall be desolated.
The vineyards shall be destroyed, and stupor shall fall upon the planters thereof.
Joy shall come to an end, and the power of all mighty men shall fall.
Beautiful things shall perish, riches shall fail, and power shall vanish.
Fountains shall fail, streets shall be destroyed, and the valleys shall be useless.
The hosts and filthy assemblies of the children of Mâgôg shall stand up,
And all creation shall become and remain a ruin.
And from the signs and bitter rumours
He that is wise will understand concerning the end.
Lebanon and Sânîr and their fellows shall be accounted nothing to him--
To the nation of Gog and Magog.
The mountains of Carmel shall not restrain the host that is with him.
His voice thunders, the rumour of him is terrible, and his strength is fearful.
His appearance is evil, his form huge and altogether harsh.
Deformed is his visage, violent is his strength, and dark is his colour.
His form is long, his weapon is sharp, and the whole of him is death.
Evil sounds and tremblings and rumours shall run before him,
And horrible things and captivities and famines and deaths and all evil things.
He shall quench the beauty of the sun and of the moon and of all luminaries;
The hills and the valleys shall put on darkness and sadness.
Laws shall come to an end and the whole earth shall dwell in mourning,
And the world shall become like a desolate and a sterile thing.
Depict in me, O our Lord, the beauty of Thy word in a loving way,
That I may preach the sign of the day of Thy coming as far as I am able.
That great nation which is perverse in its works,
And bears woe and is full of wrath and slaughter and death--
For evil captivity and destruction do they prepare with great wrath;
For spoil and slaughter are they all ready without ceasing.
They all threaten with power, and there is wrath in their cursings;
Mountains and valleys and plains tremble at them.
And great woe shall be upon those who are with child and those who give suck,
And mourning and pain upon young men and maidens--
Weeping for the children being slain through the cutting off of hope,
And for the youths also being cut off by the baleful ones.
The heavens and the earth will put on pain and sadness,
And the assemblies of celestial beings will be astonished in those days.
Quaking will fall upon the living and the dead at that time,
Through the slaughter and blood of the children of Mâgôg before the end.
A renowned people will stir up strife in the lands,
And cast tumult among cities and towns--
An ugly people, a people flayed and uprooted and full of blemishes,
Of the children of Agôg and of the house of Mâgôg with their fellows.
In abundance will they come to Palestine madly;
They will uproot and destroy its cities and slay its people.
The race of men, nation after nation, will roar and cry out;
Joy and gladness shall cease and woe will reign.
Weeping and spoiling and wickedness and all sadness shall increase.
They will uproot walls and towers and streets and towns,
And they shall become mounds, and stupor shall fall upon all creation.
Come, O Jeremiah, the prophet of the Spirit and of revelation,
And take up bitter cries of lamentation concerning that day.
The prophet says: ‘Woe to thee, O land, for a mighty nation
Is sent against thee; with arms and captivity shall he destroy thy children.’
The prophet says: ‘Thus shall all creation be
For a great astonishment and for a treading down, for slaughter and disgrace.
All creation shall kneel and fall down before that nation,
And the earth shall be destroyed of its inhabitants with great slaughter.
The priests and their flocks shall seize a place of respite
And take up tears and lamentation bitterly.
Flocks and herds and cows and oxen shall dwell in mourning.’
The prophet says: ‘Woe to thee, O earth, what is this nation,
Harsh of speech, which slays and destroys without sparing?
The keepers of vineyards shall weep over the vineyards through sorrow,
And all the dwellings of the shepherds shall dwell in mourning.’
The earth shall say: ‘Woe is me, for I have seen all revolutions
With evil quakings and disturbed horrible things full of misery.’
For to them will the Lord cry in anger at the end of times,
And as with a broom will the Lord sweep and purge it,
And He will overturn it and rend it and destroy it.
Gloomy and sorry and full of darkness shall be the days and months
Before the coming of the sinful people of the children of Mâgôg.
In these days the living will ascribe happiness to the dead,
By reason of the disturbance and quaking and slaughter and blood.
They shall not, however, enter into Jerusalem, the city of the Lord;
For the sign of the Lord shall drive them away from it, and they shall not enter it.
All the saints shall fly away from them to mount Sânîr--
All faithful true ones and the good and all the wise.
They shall not be able to approach mount Sinai, for it is the dwelling place of the Lord,
Nor to the high mountains of Sinai with their shame.
By Jerusalem shall fall by the sword the hosts
Of the children of Agôg and of the house of Mâgôg with great slaughter.
After these things shall the days full of trouble decrease,
And evil shall come and stand in the world with great trembling.
And the earth shall be drunk with the blood and slaughter of their ranks,
For the sword of a man shall fall upon his fellow with great amazement.
And if it were possible for the mountains and the earth and the stones
And the sea and the dry land to weep, they would weep for the whole world.
O how much more bitter than the slaughter of the sword and the blood of the spear
Is the affliction of the cursed children of the great family of Japhet!
For they shall lead away captive and subdue the earth and all people.
The prophet says: ‘Thus shall all creation be
For a great astonishment and for a treading down, for slaughter and disgrace.
All creation shall kneel and fall down before that nation,
And the earth shall be destroyed of its inhabitants with great slaughter.
The priests and their flocks shall seize a place of respite,
And take up tears and lamentation bitterly.
Flocks and herds and cows and oxen shall dwell in mourning.’
The prophet says: ‘Woe to thee, O earth, what is this nation,
Harsh of speech, which slays and destroys without sparing?
The keepers of vineyards shall weep over the vineyards through sorrow,
And all the dwellings of the shepherds shall dwell in mourning.’
The earth shall say: ‘Woe is me, for I have seen all revolutions,
With evil quakings and disturbed horrible things full of misery.’
For to them will the Lord cry in anger at the end of times,
And as with a broom will the Lord sweep and purge it,
And He will overturn it and rend it and destroy it.
Gloomy and sorry and full of darkness shall be the days and months
Before the coming of the sinful people of the children of Mâgôg.
In these days the living will ascribe happiness to the dead,
By reason of the disturbance and quaking and slaughter and blood.
They shall not, however, enter into Jerusalem, the city of the Lord;
For the sign of the Lord shall drive them away from it, and they shall not enter it.
All the saints shall fly away from them to mount Sânîr--
All faithful true ones and the good and all the wise.
They shall not be able to approach mount Sinai, for it is the dwelling place of the Lord,
Nor to the high mountains of Sinai with their shame.
By Jerusalem shall fall by the sword the hosts
Of the children of Agôg and of the house of Mâgôg with great slaughter.
After these things shall the days full of trouble decrease,
And evil shall come and stand in the world with great trembling.
And the earth shall be drunk with the blood and slaughter of their ranks,
For the sword of a man shall fall upon his fellow with great amazement.
And if it were possible for the mountains and the earth and the stones
And the sea and the dry land to weep, they would weep for the whole world.
O how much more bitter than the slaughter of the sword and the blood of the spear
Is the affliction of the cursed children of the great family of Japhet!
For they shall lead away captive and subdue the earth and all people.
Then the hosts of Agôg and of the house of Mâgôg shall go forth,
And man shall fall upon his fellow, and nation upon nation,
And the quaking of the earth and the sword of anger shall be there.
On the skirts of Zion shall the bodies of the dead lie in heaps.
And after these things the earth shall be desolated of mankind;
Villages shall be destroyed and all towns and cities;
The scattered ones only remain in the earth as a remnant.
Then shall Antichrist rise upon the whole earth.
Through that gate shall go forth and come that rebel;
That lying one shall Christ overthrow as is promised.
There shall stand up before him demons and spirits and wicked devils,
And they shall gather together all creation to their cursed master.
The earth shall cry out: ‘I entreat Thee, O Lord, in Thy mercy to spare me,
For, behold, I am sick and persecuted with all wounds.’
“These things which I have spoken shall come to pass before the end of the world,
And let him that hath an ear of love listen to them.”
These beautiful things did king Alexander interpret,
That they should all take place before that day at the end.
And after these things the heavens and the earth will put on pain,
And times and days and months in their courses will cease,
And will not again return to the earth from whence they came.
When the assemblies of the thousands of the children of Agôg and of the house of Mâgôg
Have destroyed all constituted things with a great slaughter,
Creation, weeping and lamenting, will cry out, saying:
‘What wilt thou do more?’
The earth will say: ‘Let the assemblies of the height entreat for me
Thy great name, the power which bears the height and the depth.’
O Jesus, look upon me in mercy and love, I entreat Thee;
May I see Thee in peace when Thou risest with Thy angels!
The whole creation shall totter and fall with great quaking,
By reason of the signs; the end cometh, it is not far off.
By Jerusalem shall perish and come to an end the hosts
Of the children of Agôg and of the house of Mâgôg together with their fellows,
And there shall that lying one be put to shame in his infidelity,
And the whole baneful company of idolatry shall be overcome.
Little by little shall be filled the web of all this world,
That it may incline and come speedily to the end.
The Lord will look upon the earth with wrath and great anger,
And it shall pass away and become nothing; but He shall not pass away.
Out of the north then shall come evil to all the earth,
And Isaiah cried to creation on account of this.”
O Jesus, O King in Whose hands are the height and the depth,
In Thee shall the Church and her children take refuge from trouble.
Blessed be the Good One Who stretched out the height and Who laid out the earth.
They shall pass away, but Thou shalt stand, O Lord, our Lord.
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And power to all His servants and the victory of might.
From the celestial and from the terrestrial beings to Thee be praise,
For Thy grace and compassion and mercy upon sinners.
Blessed be the Lord who gave victory to Alexander,
And he conquered and destroyed the inhabitants of the lands.
Grant unto me, O Lord, a mouth that I may preach Thy great glory,
That it may cry out before Thee on the day of Thy revelation, “Glory to Thee.”
And to the readers and the writer of this book may there be remission of sins,
And to the hearer and the doer may there be propitiation.
Here endeth the discourse upon Alexander
And upon the gate which he made towards the north.
Yea and Amen.
