Section 45
And the children of the nobles of Yisra'el, who were commanded to depart with the son of the king, took counsel together, saying, “ What shall we do? For we have left our country and our birth-place, and our kinsfolk and the people of our city. Now, come you, let us establish a Kidan between us only, of which our kinsfolk shall know nothing, that we will love each other in that country: none shall hasten or tarry here, and we will neither fear nor have any doubt. For Elohim is here, and Elohim is there, and may Elohim’s Will be done! And to Him be praise for ever and ever! Amen.” And ’Azaryahu and ’Elmiyas, sons of the Kohanim, answered, “ Let not the other matter - that our kinsfolk hate us - cause us sorrow, but let us sorrow on account of our Lady Tsiyon, because they are making us to leave her. For in her they have committed us to Elohim, and we have served her to this day; and let us be sorrowful because they have made us to leave her. It is because of her and because of this that they have specially made us to weep.” And the others answered and said to them, “ Verily she is our Lady and our hope, and our object of boasting, and we have grown up under her blessedness. And how is it possible for us to forsake Tsiyon our mistress? For we have been given to her. And what shall we do? If we resist his command the king will kill us, and we are unable to transgress the word of our fathers or the king’s command. And what shall we do concerning Tsiyon our Lady? ” And ’Azaryahu, the son of Tsadoq the Kohen, answered and said, “ I will counsel you what we shall do. But make a Kidan with me to the end of your lives; and swear to me that you will not repeat it whether we live or whether we die, or whether we be taken captive or whether we go forth [unhindered].” And they swore an oath to him in the Name of the Yahuah Elohim of Yisra'el, and by the heavenly Tsiyon, the Tabot of the Torah of Elohim, and by what Elohim had promised to Avraham, and by the purity and excellence of Yitsḥaq, and by His making Ya'aqov to arrive in and inherit a land whereto he was a stranger, and his seed after him. And when they had sworn thus to him, he answered and said to them, “ Come now, let us take [with us] our Lady Tsiyon; but how are we to take her? I will show you. And carry you out my plan and if Elohim willeth we shall be able to take our Lady with us. And if they should gain knowledge of our doings and slay us, that shall not trouble us, because we shall die for our Lady Tsiyon.” And they all rose up, and kissed his head, and his face, and his eyes, and they said to him, “ We will do everything that you hast counselled us to do; whether we die or whether we live, we are with you for the sake of our Lady Tsiyon. If we die it will not cause us sorrow, and if we live - the Will of Elohim be done! ” And one of them, the son of Yoas (Benayahu), whose name was Zekharyahu, said, “ I cannot sit down because of the great gladness that is in my heart. Tell me, moreover, canst you indeed carry her off, and is it not a lie? you canst go into the House of Elohim in the place of your father Tsadoq, and the keys are continually in your hand. But ponder well what we counsel you before they take the keys out of your hand. you knowest the hidden openings (or, windows) which King Shəlomah made; but none of the Kohanim may enter within it except your father once each year in order to offer up sacrifice in the Qodesh of Holies on behalf of himself and on behalf of the people. Ponder, consider, and sleep not in the matter of your wish to carry away Tsiyon. And we will depart with her as soon as she has been committed to our care, and we shall have joy and our fathers sorrow when she arriveth with us in the country of Ethiopia.” And Azaryahu said to them, “ Do you what I tell you, and we shall succeed. Give you to me each of you ten didrachmas, x and I will give them to a carpenter so that he will make haste to prepare for me good planks of wood - now because of his love of money he will fasten them together very quickly - of the height, and breadth, and length and size of our Lady [Tsiyon]. And I will give him the dimensions of myself, and I will say to him, “ Prepare for me pieces of wood for a framework (?) so that I may make a raft therefrom; for we are going to travel over the sea, and in the event of the ship sinking I shall be able to get up on the raft, and we shall be saved from the sea. And I will take the framework without the pieces of wood of it being fixed together, and I will have them put together in Ethiopia. And I will set them down in the habitation of Tsiyon, and will drape them with the draperies of Tsiyon, and I will take Tsiyon, and will dig a hole in the ground, and will set Tsiyon there, until we journey and take it away with us there. And I will not tell the matter to the king until we have travelled far.” And they each gave him ten didrachmas, and this money amounted to one hundred and forty didrachmas, and he took them and gave them to a carpenter, who straightway fashioned a good piece of work from the remains of the wood of the house of the sanctuary, and Azaryahu rejoiced and showed it to his brethren.