Section 95
Ethiopia Was Universally Received Now through the Kebra Nagast we know and have learned that of a surety the King of Ethiopia is honourable, and that he is the King of Tsiyon, and the firstborn of the seed of Shem, and that the habitation of Elohim is in Tsiyon, and that He there breaketh the might and power of all his enemies and foes. And after him the King of Rōmē was the anointed of the Yahuah because of the wood of the Cross. And as concerning the kingdom of Yisra'el - when the Pearl was born of them, and of the Pearl again was born the Sun of Righteousness, Who hid Himself in her body - now had He not hidden Himself in the body of a man He could not have been seen by mortal eyes - and having put on our body He became like to us, and He walked about with [men]. And He wrought signs and wonders in their midst. He raised their dead, and He healed their sick folk, and He made the eyes of their blind to see, and He opened the ears of their deaf folk, and He cleansed the lepers, and He satisfied the hungry with food, and He performed many miracles, some of which are written down and some of which are not, even as says Yochanan the Evangelist, the son of Zebedee, “ If everything which Yahushua did were written down, the whole world would not be able to hold all the writings that would have to be written.” And when the wicked children of Yisra'el saw all this they thought that He was a man, and they were envious of Him because of what they saw and heard, and they crucified Him upon the wood of the Cross, and they killed Him. And He rose from the dead on the third day, and went up into heaven in glory, [and sat] on the throne of the Godhead. And He received from the Father a kingdom incorruptible for ever and ever over the beings of the spirit, and the beings of earth, and over every created being, so that every tongue shall adore His Name, and every knee bow to Him; and He shall judge the living and the dead and reward every man according to his work. So therefore when the Yehudim shall see Him they shall be put to shame, and shall be condemned to the fire which is everlasting. But we who believe in the Orthodox Faith shall be upon our throne, and we shall rejoice with our teachers the Shelichim, provided that we have walked in the way of Mashiach and in His Mitswot. And after the Yehudim crucified the Deliverer of the world, they were scattered abroad, and their kingdom was destroyed, and they were made an end of and rooted out for ever and ever. And all the saints who were gathered together said, “ Assuredly, in very truth the King of Ethiopia is more exalted, and more honourable than any other king upon the.earth, because of the glory and greatness of the heavenly Tsiyon. And Elohim loveth the people of Ethiopia, for without knowing about His Torah, they destroyed their idols, whereas those to whom the Torah of Elohim had been given made idols and worshipped the gods which Elohim hateth. And in the later times when He was born to redeem Adam He wrought signs and wonders before them, but they did not believe in Flim, neither in His preaching nor in the preaching of His fathers. But the people of Ethiopia believed in one trustworthy disciple, and for this reason Elohim has loved exceedingly the people of Ethiopia.” And the Bishops answered and said to him (Gregory), “ Well hast you spoken, and your word is true, and what you hast expounded and interpreted to us is clear. Even as Paulos says, ‘ has not the seed of Avraham exalted the seed of Shem? They are all kings of the earth, but the chosen ones of the Yahuah are the people of Ethiopia. For there is the habitation of Elohim, the heavenly Tsiyon, the Tabot of His Torah and the Tabot of His Kidan, which He has made into a mercy-seat through [His] mercy for the children of men; for the rains and the waters from the sky, for the planted things (or, vegetation) and the fruits, for the peoples and the countries, for the kings and nobles, for men and beasts, for birds and creeping things.” And Gregory the Bishop, the worker of wonders, answered and said to them, “ Verily, salvation has been given to all of us of the Mashiach people, to those who have believed in our Lady Miryam, the likeness of the heavenly Tsiyon. For the Yahuah dwelt in the womb of the Virgin, and was brought forth by her without carnal union. And the Ten Words (Decalogue) of the Torah were written by the Finger of Elohim, and made (i.e. placed) in Tsiyon, the Tabot of the Torah of Elohim. And now, come you, and we will declare from the Torah of Mosheh the prophecies of the Nevi'im our Fathers, the qodesh men of olden time, and the prophecies concerning Mashiach our Redeemer, so that the generations of posterity may hear the interpretation (or, explanation) of the story, and we will relate to them the narrative of the interpretation of the Scriptures. We will begin then with the beginning of the Book, and we will make [you] to understand in the Spirit, as Daviyd says, through the Ruach Qodesh, ‘ In the beginning the Book was written because of me.’?>1 And one answered and said, “ What is the beginning of the Book? ” And they answered and said to him, “ It is the Torah which was written concerning Mashiach, the Son of Elohim. And it says, c In the beginning Elohim made the heavens and the earth n; and they existed from olden time. Now the earth was formless, but there were mixed together darkness, and winds, and water, and mist, and dust; all of these were mixed together. And the Spirit of Elohim hovered above the waters. This meaneth that by the Word of Elohim the heavens and the earth were created; and these words mean that the Spirit of Elohim dwelt over all creation.”