The Lords' First Book

Being cotemporaneous with the Book of Aph, Son of Jehovih, and as the latter is of heaven, so is the Lords' Book of the earth. For which reason one book is placed above the other.

Chapter I

The history of the Flood.

1. Hear me, O man, I am the Lord, the God of earth, Son of Jehovih! I am one of thine elder brothers. I, thy Lord, with my brother Lords and Gods, in the name of Jehovih, speak, saying:

2. Peace and patience be unto all men, that ye may comprehend my words, and bear witness that heaven and earth in every part is Jehovih's, and that all men and women are His sons and daughters, worlds without end.

3. As over mortal kingdoms, kings; as over empires, emperors; as over armies, generals; so hath Jehovih in his heavens crowned certain chieftains for times and places, and given to them certain names, whereby they have been proclaimed to men and angels, so that the discipline of heavens might manifest the glory and dominion of Jehovih.

4. In all time, honored in high heaven, and known to the people on the earth as Jehovih's Lord, Commander of heavenly light on earth, and Pacificator betwixt All Light and All Darkness, and entitled Lord of earth and Lord God, so have I and my predecessors, and my successors, been handed down for thousands of years amongst mortals.

5. Whereas, if it be said: The King said thus; and generations after, if it be said, The King said thus; and all men know it was not the same man, but was nevertheless The King, so also proclaim I, the Lord, My predecessors and successors; for all of them were, and have been The Lord.

6. Wherefore I, the Lord, by virtue of my own authority, and in Jehovih's name, proclaim the light and the darkness of the past, for inasmuch as I have been exalted by the Father, so are ye all in waiting for your turn in the heavens above to become Lords and Gods and Goddesses.

7. To draw your souls up in heavenly aspirations, to become one with the Father in righteousness and good works, sendeth Jehovih His sons and daughters, down to the earth, revealing the glory of His kingdoms in the etherean worlds.

8. But because of the darkness of man's soul, man setteth up to mock the words of his Lord, saying: How can I become a Lord, or a God? Behold, his word hath not been heard; none have written his speech?

9. Was it not so in all times on the earth? And because of this darkness amongst men, they have laid bare the iniquity of their own hearts. For out of the mouths of my chosen, who utter my words, come words of truth and love and wisdom and kindness, and the exaltation of virtue. But from those who deny me, come corruption, war, avarice, and the love of earthly things for self-sake.

10. Behold, they have quibbled about words and the meaning of words. One saith: How much of this came from the Lord, and how much from the prophet? Making of themselves mathematicians on a matter separate from the subject of the righteousness of their own souls, which lieth at the bottom of God's desires.

11. Are not all words at best but pictures and paintings of the spirit that findeth them? And whether the Captain (Lord) or his private (angel) carry the light to the prophet, what mattereth it to the man or woman who seeketh to serve Jehovih by doing good works?

12. Some have said: Behold, I have given all I had to the poor, and I rise early and visit the sick; and in the night I sit up with them; and I gather up orphans and helpless ones and make them so joyous of heart they thank Jehovih they are created into life. Now, verily, all men know that such behavior cometh from them that recognize my word, whether it come from the mouth of a babe or the pen of a fool.

13. Who, then, shall not find delight in the word of the Lord? Know they not that I am the same to-day, yesterday and forever? And in judgment why will they not perceive that my word cometh as well now as in the olden time?

14. Behold, I am not for one man only, nor for one woman, nor for one book; but wherever the light of wisdom and the desire for virtue and holy deeds shine, there will my speech manifest. Is not Jehovih wide as the universe, and immutable? And to be in harmony with Him, is this not the sum of all wisdom?

15. Therefore, if thy Lord, or thy God, hath attained to be one with the Father, and He come in dominion on the earth, with His millions of angels, who also know the higher light, and ye are inspired by them to do Jehovih's will, what discussion shall man have against heaven or its representatives?

16. I declare freedom unto all men in Jehovih's name, but with freedom I also give the experience of the Lords of earth. Suffer therefore my prophets on all hands to embellish the pictures of the past in their own way; and as far as the pictures fortify faith in Jehovih and His Works, and His Power and His Glory, be ye circumspect to desire nourishment therefrom. And rather than destroy that which is given in the name of Jehovih, go ye, and fall to work in like manner to build up His light in your own way.

17. Herein is wisdom, for they that strive for the light of my dominion shall receive my angels in my name; and by the words they find to express my commandments shall they be known to be of me.

18. All words came from the Lord your God; by him was man made upright on the earth. As the first race went down into the earth, the second man rose up by my angels, becoming like unto Lords and Gods, and capable of knowing good and evil.

19. But as the light of a full grown man differeth from that of a child's, so, in different degree, was the light of men; and those with the higher light were called Faithists (I'hins), because they perceived that Wisdom shaped all things and ruled to the ultimate glory of the All One; but those of the lesser light were called Cain, the druk, because their trust was more in corporeal than in spiritual things.

20. And the Faithists were also called the chosen people, because they chose God, who is Lord over corpor; but the Cainites, the druks, were classed as enemies of the Lord, because they sacrificed by means of war and death that which Jehovih made alive. And these two peoples have lived on the earth from the first, and even to this day.

21. And I, the Lord, Son of Jehovih, gave a certain commandment to man, saying: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, thy wisdom and strength. But man had little strength in this matter; neither did I ask for more than he could give. And another commandment was: Thou shalt not kill; the which had man obeyed, there had been no war in the world.

22. In like manner gave I the light of heaven unto all men, but my enemies perverted my words in order to justify themselves in sin. For the Father so dwelleth in man that man can judge of truth and holiness. For if one man saith: The Lord said: Thou shalt not kill; and yet another man saith: The Lord saith, Thou shalt kill; then shall not any man mistake which is of the Lord in fact. For the Lord maketh not alive any man whom he desireth shall be killed.

23. Thus was my word perverted by man, and the little light which was not lost, man tried to obscure. Nevertheless, man multiplied and inhabited the earth over, building cities and nations and prospering in certain seasons in all things earthly. But as I came to the earth to develop the soul of man chiefly, and for his own ultimate happiness in the etherean worlds, I labored not with such as heeded me not, but suffered them to go on in their own conceit; and they became divided against one another, and war and pestilence and divers diseases came upon mortals, resulting in their further downfall.

24. And the spirits of those that denied me on earth, still denied me in heaven; and in their stubbornness and conceit continued to dwell with man on the earth. So that in the course of time the world was overrun by spirits of darkness, who knew not heaven. And it came to pass that my enemies slew my chosen on all hands.

25. In four great divisions of the earth, in Vohu, in Jud, in Thouri and in Dis (see Sethantes, chapter II, v.28) they left not one alive of the I'hin race. In Wagga (Pan) had I a remnant; and they were scattered far and near, and in separate places hiding away from their evil pursuers.

26. I had said unto them: Every living thing that groweth up out the ground shall be food for you; but of everything wherein is the breath of life, which is of blood and spirit, ye shall not eat. Who so sheddeth blood, wherein is life, by himself inviteth his own blood and spirit to the spoil. In likeness of God was man made heir of the earth and all things thereon.

27. Be ye fruitful and multiply; bring forth abundantly in remembrance of the Lord God of heaven and earth.

28. And I gave the circumcision as a measure of the boundary of my chosen.

29. But there were giants (druks) in those days and in time after that; and my chosen came unto them, and they bare children to them also. And their flesh became corrupt, so that vermin inhabited them from the time of their birth to the time of death. And they became rotten in the head with catarrh; and in the throat with ulcers and running sores; and in the lungs and joints with the poison of death. And their offspring that was born unto them came forth afflicted with the sins of their fathers and mothers, to linger in misery or to die in infancy.

30. And they thus peopled heaven with untimely births and with spirits of darkness, who, in return, came back and re-afflicted mortals.

31. And I said: I will destroy man from the face of the earth; for the flesh of man is corrupt, for by the eating of flesh and unwise cohabitation hath he corrupted his race upon the earth.

32. And I, the Lord, called unto my chosen, who were persecuted and hidden away in the valleys and mountains, even on the tops of mountains.

33. And I said unto them: Because ye have kept my commandments, come forth and hear ye the word of the Lord your God. And they came forth from their hiding places, thousands and thousands of them. And I sent my angels unto them, saying:

34. Say ye unto my chosen: This is the word of the Lord your God: Ye have found favor in my sight, for ye alone of all that is on the earth have kept my commandments; and ye have seen righteousness in the seed of your generations.

35. Go to, therefore, and build ships sufficient unto my chosen, and get ye within, where none can pursue or destroy.

36. For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth, even above the highest mountains; for I will destroy the corruption thereof, and purge it of all uncleanness.

37. Take ye, therefore, of all food that is good to eat, and gather it into the ships; for the flood shall remain a hundred and fifty days; and ye shall not come forth and find wherewith to eat.

38. And the angels of the Lord went to the Faithists in God and inspired them to build ships, both in the valleys and on the mountains; for two whole years builded they them, and then they were completed.

39. And the angels of heaven numbered the ships, and there were of them one hundred and thirty-eight. And the ships stood on the mountains and in valleys; nowhere near the waters stood one of all the ships that had been built.

40. And the earth stood in the arc of Noe in the firmament of heaven, in the place and grade of six hundred in the a'ji'an roads, twenty-four thousand years before kosmon.

41. And the Lord commanded the chosen to go into the ships; and they went in; and in the same day the gates of heaven and earth were opened.

42. And the earth rocked to and fro, as a ship at sea; and the rains fell in torrents; and loud thunderings came up from beneath the floor of the world. And the sea came up on the land; first upon the valleys and then upon the mountains; so that the ships floated on the waters.

43. But the land was swallowed up, valleys and mountains, and all the living perished, save the I'hins, who floated off in the ships.

44. And the Lord said: I numbered them that were saved, and there were twelve thousand four hundred and twenty; and these were all that remained of the first race of man that walked on two feet.

45. Behold, I will carry them to all the divisions of the earth, and people it anew with the seed of my chosen.

46. And Jehovih blew His breath upon the ships of His sons and daughters; blew them about upon the ocean; blew them to the east and west and north and south.

47. By the will of God were the ships congregated into four fleets; thirty-four ships into each fleet, save two ships which were carried in a fleet to themselves.

48. The Lord said: I will name the fleets of my chosen, and their names shall be everlasting on the earth. And the Lord named them Guatama, Shem, Jaffeth, Ham and Yista.

49. The Lord said: From these, my seed, will I people the earth over in all the divisions thereof. And that after generations, for thousands of years, may know the work of my hand; behold I give them a sign, which is my covenant to them and their heirs forever;

50. Which is my crescent, in the form of a rainbow; and whatsoever people bear this, my sign, shall be as a remembrance to me of my covenant. Nor shall they be destroyed from the inheritance which I have given unto them.

51. And the chosen looked out of their ships, and the sky was clearing; and a rainbow shone in the firmament; and by the light thereof the land was found, whither the Lord brought his people.

52. And in one hundred and fifty days from the beginning of the flood, the ships were brought into their respective places; as the Lord designed them, so landed they in the different countries of the world.

53. The fleet named Guatama was carried to the eastward, and the country whither it landed was also called Guatama. The Lord said: From this place shall my chosen spread out north and south. But they shall not inhabit the lands to the east or west as far as the sea; for they shall be testimony in time to come of this landing place from the continent of Pan.

54. God said: Suffer my people to bestow names to the places whither I lead them; for these names shall show in the kosmon era the work of my hand done in this day.

55. The fleet of two ships carried to the north was named Yista, which in the Wagga tongue was Zha'Pan, which is the same country that is to this day called Japan, signifying relict of the continent of Pan, for it lay to the north, where the land was cleaved in twain.

56. And the Lord said to them: Behold, eight Hi'dan shall come and ye shall be as a key to unlock the labors of heaven; for of all people ye shall be reckoned the oldest in the world. And until I come and unlock the sea, ye shall remain an exclusive people from all tribes and nations.

57. Preserve ye, therefore, the names of my rites and ceremonies, and especially the names of land and water, and the firmament above, and the ships that plow the water, and all sounds whatever that man maketh in the throat and without the tongue and lips; for in the time of my glory on the earth ye shall also be glorified. Preserve ye also peace and righteousness and industry, for ye shall be a testimony in the later time of the presence of my hand and of the Great Spirit also. Thus was settled Japan, and it continueth to this day.

58. The fleet named Jaffeth was driven to the westward and north, and the country was called Jaffeth for thousands of years thereafter, and is the same as is called Chine'ya to this day.

59. The fleet named Shem landed to the south, and the country was called Shem for thousands of years afterward, and is the same as is called Vindyu (India) to this day.

60. The fleet named Ham landed south west, and the country was called the land of Ham for thousands of years, and is the same as is called Egypt and Africa to this day.

61. God said: Behold, my chosen shall manifest many signs and words common to one another in these different divisions of the earth.

62. They shall remember the flood.

63. They shall repudiate idols, but worship the Great Spirit, Jehovih.

64. They shall have the crescent.

65. They shall have the triangle.

66. They shall preserve the four days of the change of the moon as sacred days, and they shall be called mass (moon's) days.

67. They shall be circumcised.

68. They shall remember the seven tetracts: Dibbah , the enticing evil; Ra. the flesh evil; Zimmah, the joking evil; Belyyaal, worthlessness; Aven, vanity; Anash, delight in destruction; Sa'tan, desire for leadership, which is the captain of death.

69. They shall have three great lights: Or, the All Highest; God. son of Or; Lord (Adonya), executor of heaven and earth.

70. They shall have three less lights: God's angels and Lords; the prophets; the rab'bahs.

71. They shall have three representative symbols of light: The sun, the moon and the burning flame.

72. The Lord said: And my chosen shall use these lights and symbols, signs and seasons in all the divisions of the earth whither I have settled them.

73. And in the kosmon era I will come and show them the framework of my building which I raise up to the Almighty.

74. God said: Now was the world of one language and one speech; in all the places of my people spake they alike, man to man.

75. Nevertheless, in all parts of the earth there lived ground people, who were black and brown, and burrowed in the ground; and they had long arms and curved backs, and were naked and not ashamed, for which reason they were called Druks.

76. The Lord spake unto the chosen (the I'hins), saying: Behold the earth! I give it to you, to be yours forever.

77. Mingle ye not with the druks, for they are without understanding and are not heirs to everlasting life.

78. Now, many inquired of the Lord, saying: If these, having no understanding, be not heirs to everlasting life, how shall it be with our children who die in infancy?

79. The Lord said: This is a matter of the seed, and not of learning. Whosoever is born of my chosen shall inherit my everlasting kingdom.

Chapter II

1. The Lord said: A wise physician amputateth a diseased limb and so preserveth the trunk to become healed.

2. Saw I not the rankness of the tribes of darkness, the druks; and that the proceedings of man would render the earth void?

3. What is all the world if it bring not forth heirs unto everlasting life?

4. Behold, I saw that my chosen had become exterminated, and on all the divisions of the earth save Pan. And I saw that they who had been their destroyers had in turn nearly exterminated one another.

5. And I saw that to bring the remnants of my people hither, they could again re-establish themselves and become the seed of a mighty people.

6. But, as for the land of Wagga (Pan), it was already in the throes of death. And the druks had become as a festering sore; and the spirits of the dead, tens of thousands of millions of them, would not quit their hold on mortals whilst life was on the earth.

7. And I sent my angels around about the whole earth, and gathered in the spirits of darkness; gathered them unto the land of Wagga.

8. And when my work was in readiness I raised up my hand, as a surgeon that would lop off a diseased limb, and I cleft asunder the continent of Pan and sunk it beneath the waters.

9. And my angels conducted my chosen out of that land, and not one of them perished.

10. I said unto the guardian angels whom I had given to man: In the lands whither I will take my people, let them build mounds and walled cities, with ladders to enter, after the manner of the ancients. In all the divisions of the earth, alike and like shall they build.

11. For in the time of kosmon their relics shall be testimony that the I'hin forerun the I'huan, the copper-colored, race in all the world.

12. So also will I, the Lord, provide in the kosmon era to discover the sunken land of Wagga, that mortals may comprehend the magnitude of the work of the Lord.

13. In those days the I'hins dwelt not alone, but in cities and villages; and they were clothed. And they tilled the ground and brought forth grains and seeds good to eat; and flax and hemp, from which to make cloth for covering the body. And their food was of every herb and root, and grain and seed, and fruit that cometh of the earth; but they ate not flesh nor fish, nor of anything that breathed the breath of life.

14. They toiled by day, bringing within their cities the fruit of their labor; and they slept within their cities, and on mounds, at night, that they might not be molested by beasts of prey and by serpents.

15. And every city had one rab'bah (head father), who knew the way of the Lord; by the rab'bah were the altars of the Lord built, and the times of the sacred days foretold.

16. And the rab'bah made records in writing on stone; the which they taught to their successors, and to whomsoever desired to learn of the Lord.

17. And the Lord abode with them; and they kept the commandments and multiplied exceedingly in all the divisions of the world.

18. Nor was there any war in any land under the sun in those days.

19. In three thousand years thereafter, behold, there were thousands of cities and hundred of thousands of inhabitants who had spread abroad over the lands of the earth.

20. And they had built ships and sailed abroad on the seas, and inhabited the islands thereof, north and south and east and west.

Chapter III

The scriptures of that day.

1. God said: That my people may remain upright, behold, I give unto them and their successors forever, certain sacred words which shall be to them the bond of my covenant.

2. Seven degrees of sacred rites bestow I unto my people. And no man shall take the second till he hath learned all the words of the first; nor shall he take the third till he hath learned all the words of the second; and so on, shall man learn all my sacred words; from mouth to ear shall they be learned by every man and every woman of my people, saith the Lord.

3. Hearken, then, to the words of the servants of the Lord:

4. I will serve the prophets of the Lord my God.

5. Heal my flesh, O God (iod) (gau) and cure poison.

6. The Lord is my spirit (s'pe) unseen in the heavens.

7. He is all power, and wisdom and love and anger.

8. He can heal, and he can tear the flesh, and strike dead.

9. His prophets have his good grace; they can hear his voice and interpret him.

10. The Lord is my guardian; ten times a day will I remember him.

11. God who is Lord can stop blood; choke it up, O Lord.

12. He gave blood-stopping as a power of the prophet's hands.

13. Confound my enemies, O God.

14. The ashars (angels of the Lord) shield me.

15. I will honor the I'hins, the sacred people of God. They are my brethren.

16. This was the first lesson. The Lord said to his prophets: Go to the druks and cause them to sit on the ground in a circle, and stand ye in the midst, saying: Behold, O druk, the Great Spirit hath spoken; I have heard his voice. His words are holy words; whoever learneth his words shall have power over sickness and poison and the flowing of blood. And, if a woman, she shall become fruitful and have great rejoicing. Hold up your hands and repeat the words of the Lord.

17. And it was so, the prophets taught the words of the Lord, to wit:

18. Blessed be the name of the Lord. He can make me to be alive after I am dead, and this is all he requireth of me, to say: Blessed be the name of the Lord. In the morning I will say it; at noon I will say it; at night I will say it: Blessed be the name of the Lord.

19. I will wear clothes to hide my nakedness, because God requireth it of me.

20. I will not steal, nor speak untruth.

21. If my brother taketh what is mine, I will not be in anger, nor judge him; but I will lay the matter before the prophets of God.

22. I will do no violence, for it is God's commandment.

23. This, then, that followeth, was the third:

24. I will have but one wife, I will not go after other women whilst she liveth. (I will have but one husband; I will receive no other man whilst my husband liveth.)

25. I will suffer no man nor woman of poison (leprosy) to come near the oe'ugah (camp). In the Lord's name, I will drive them hence.

26. I renounce them; nor will I mingle therewith, for it is God's commandment.

27. The fourth commandment, that is to say:

28. I will forswear the hunt; but whatsoever cometh and is fit food for man to eat, I will kill it. I will take up fish in the name of the Lord, for they suffer no pain.

29. I will till the soil and gather roots to eat, and fibres of barks for clothing, and live like the I'hins, the chosen people of God.

30. I renounce murderers; nor will I marry with them, nor live as they live; they are the enemies of the Lord God.

31. I will curse no man, nor woman, nor child, for it is the Lord's commandment.

32. I renounce anger and all weapons of death; they are enemies of the Lord.

33. If a man injure me, I will lay the matter before the Lord's prophet, for his judgment is holy, saith the Lord.

34. If a woman entice me, I will go secrete myself and repeat the sacred words.

35. I will respect the times of woman, for she is the gift of the Lord to be man's helpmate.

36. When my wife hath a newborn child, I will do her labor for forty days, for it is God's commandment.

37. The fifth commandment, which is:

38. The four days of the moon are the Lord's; on those days I will not labor.

39. I will keep sacred the four days of every moon, and I will repeat the sacred words of the Lord thrice.

40. And when the prophets say: Behold, the Lord saith this is a sacred day; then will I keep that day holy, for the prophets hear the voice of God.

41. When the I'hins worship before the altar of the Lord, I will keep on the outer circle, for the I'hins are the chosen servants of God.

42. When the I'hins march forth, following the prophets, I will come after, for I will honor the Lord's chosen.

43. When the prophets say: Pitch the tents here, I will abide, for the prophets cannot err.

44. The sixth commandment, which is:

45. For the sick I will provide, and for the woman with a newborn child.

46. I will give, first to the I'hins, second to the druks, and lastly keep for mine own self.

47. To warriors I will give in time of sickness, but when they are healed, I will say: Go your way.

48. And if a man be sick of poison, or a woman sick of poison, I will go to the same. But before I go in I will say: O Lord, my God, in thy name I go in a dangerous business; come thou through thy ashars and protect me for thy sake.

49. For the Lord can encompass me around about, and I shall not receive the poison.

50. The seventh commandment, which is:

51. I will keep these holy words secret in the name of the Lord my God.

52. When the Lord commandeth, saying: Go here, or go there, or build here a city, or a house or an altar, then will I do the Lord's bidding.

53. Thus did the Lord establish laws amongst men; and because of the sacredness of the Lord's words, man treasured them and kept holy the commandments of God.

54. Now I, the Lord, reveal in this, the kosmon era:

55. My angels abode with the chosen in the days of the aforesaid sacred scriptures.

56. And when the words were repeated for the stopping of blood, behold, my angels compressed the veins. Not the words stopped the blood, but by the words mortals became in concert with my hosts.

57. And when a man went into the presence of dangerous diseases, repeating the sacred words, behold, my angels enveloped that man with my unseen blankets, and the man was protected from the disease.

58. Without such words, there could be no concert of action betwixt mortals and angels.

59. Think not that thy Lord taught a foolish thing; nor that the mumbling of words by my prophets were without wisdom and forethought by the Lord thy God.

60. Now in those days the Lord caused the rab'bah to make a wheel and hang it beside the altar. And the meaning thereof was: As this wheel is without beginning or end, so is the Creator. Whosoever turneth the wheel one round hath said: In thee, my God, I trust.

61. And the Lord made an image to stand at the extreme of the altar, whither only holy men and women might pass, and the Lord called the emblem Fete, signifying, beyond me there is no appeal.

62. And the form of fete was a circle and an all light centre, with four dark corners cut off. And the Lord explained the meaning, which was:

63. That there is a central light within man seeing clearly, but that the four dark corners of the world (ignorance, lust, selfishness, and anger) beset him on all sides.

64. And the Lord made an instrument and called it gau, which was a triangle with a plumb line from the upper corner; and across the plumb line was a hollow reed for seeing through; and at the bottom end of the plumb line was a weight attached, which pointed to marks on the lower border of the triangle. And the Lord explained to the prophets how to use the gau for proving all things, even as to the height of mountains, and the velocity of running waters, and how to lay the foundations of the temples, that they might be square with the world. And the prophets on their part taught the I'hins, but with them the mysteries were kept a secret against all the world. Hence, in after time, came the saying: Even the wicked were compelled to employ the I'hins, and were thus beholden to the Lord.

65. In all there were two hundred and eighty signs and emblems and symbols and implements given by the Lord to his people; and when they were all completed the Lord taught the prophets the meaning; and these became the sacred language of mortals in all the divisions of the earth.

End of the Lords' First Book.


Continued

Index to Oahspe