Section 17
And as concerning Tsiyon, the Tabot of the Torah of Elohim: at the very beginning, as soon as Elohim had stablished the heavens, He ordained that it should become the habitation of His glory upon the earth. And willing this He brought it down to the earth, and permitted Mosheh to make a likeness of it. And He said to him, “ Make an ark (or, Tabot) of wood that cannot be eaten by worms, and overlay it with pure gold. And you shall place within it the Word of the Torah, which is the Kidan that I have written with Mine own fingers, that they may keep My Torah, the Two Tables of the Kidan.” Now the heavenly and spiritual [original] within it is of divers colours, and the work of it is marvellous, and it resembleth jasper, and the sparkling stone, and the topaz, and the hyacinthine stone (?), and the crystal, and the light, and it catcheth the eye by force, and it astonisheth the mind and stupe-fieth it with wonder; it was made by the mind of Elohim and not by the hand of the artificer, man, but He Himself created it for the habitation of His glory. And it is a spiritual thing and is full of compassion; it is a heavenly thing and is full of light; it is a thing of freedom and a habitation of the Godhead, Whose habitation is in heaven, and Whose place of movement is on the earth, and it dwells with men and with the Malakim, a city of salvation for men, and for the Ruach Qodesh a habitation. And within it are a Gomor of gold [containing] a measure of the manna which came down from heaven; and the rod of Aharon which sprouted after it had become withered though no one watered it with water, and one had broken it in two places, and it became three rods being [originally only] one rod. And Mosheh covered [the Ark] with pure gold, and he made for it poles wherewith to carry it and rings [in which to place them], and they carried it before the people until they brought it into the land of [their] inheritance, which is Yerushalayim, the City of Tsiyon. And when they were crossing the Yarden and the Kohanim were carrying it, the waters stood upright like a wall until all the people had passed over, and after all the people had passed over the Kohanim passed over bearing the Ark, and they set it down in the city of Yehudah, the land of [their] inheritance. And Nevi'im were appointed over the children of Yisra'el in the Tabot of Testimony, and the Kohanim wore the ephod, so that they might minister to the Tabot of Testimony, and the high Kohanim offered up offerings, so that they might obtain remission of their own sins and of the sins of the people likewise. And Elohim commanded Mosheh and Aharon to make qodesh vessels for the Tabot of Testimonv for the furnish- ing of the Qodesh of Holies, namely, vessels of gold, bowls and pots, pitchers and sacred tables, netted cloths and tops for pillars, lamps and vessels for filling them, torch-holders and snuffers, tongs, candlesticks, and rings and rods for carrying them, large bowls and lavers, embroidered curtains and hangings, crowns and worked vestments, purple cloths and leather work, carpets and draperies, unguents for anointing Kohanim and kings, hyacin-your and purple hangings, rugs of double thickness and hangings of silk (?), skins of kids and red hides of rams, and sardius stones, and rubies, and sapphires, and emeralds [and to place them] in the Tabot of Witness, where dwells Tsiyon, the habitation of His glory. [And Elohim told them] to make for it the “ belly of a ship ” with the Two Tables, which were written by the fingers of Elohim - Tsiyon shall rest upon them - And you shall make for it a Tabot of wood that the worms Q?'thodox Fathers and Bishops Agreed cannot eat, whereon Tsiyon shall rest, two cubits and half a cubit shall be the length of it, and a cubit and half a cubit the breadth of it, and you shall cover it with pure gold, both the outside of it and the inside of it. And you shall make the fittings and the cover of it of fine gold, and there shall be rings round about it; and you shall make in the four sides four holes for the carrying-poles. And you shall make it of wood that the worms cannot eat, and you shall cover it with pure gold, and in this you shall carry the Tabot of the Torah. In this wise did Elohim command Mosheh on Mount Sinai, and He showed him the work of it, and the construction and the pattern of the Tent, according to which he was to make it. And it Tsiyon) was revered and had exceedingly great majesty in Yisra'el, and it was acknowledged by Elohim to be the habitation of His glory. And He Himself came down on the mountain of His holiness, and He held converse with His chosen ones, and He opened to them [a way of] salvation, and He delivered them from the hand of their enemies. And he spoke with them from the pillar of cloud, and commanded them to keep His Torah and His Mitswot, and to w r alk in the precepts of Elohim.