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of cattle, and the burning of a threshing floor, of a deposit of silver and gold, and the use of beasts of burden and all kinds of livestock from a neighbor, of the defilement of a virgin, and of death by poison, of bestiality, and of sacrifice to idols, of mistreatment of a proselyte and orphans and widows, of those who borrow, of speaking evil against God and the rulers of the people, of the first-fruits of the threshing floor and wine press, of the firstborn sons, and of calves and sheep and beasts of burden, that they be men holy to God, and not to eat flesh torn by beasts, but to cast it to the dogs, not to accept a false report, not to bear false witness with the unjust, not to be with many for evil, not to pervert justice with the many, nor to pity a poor man in judgment, to turn back and return the ox and the beast of burden of an enemy when one finds it wandering, and to help raise it when it has fallen under its load, not to pervert the just judgment of a poor man, to abstain from every unjust word, not to kill the innocent and righteous, not to justify the wicked, not to take bribes, as they blind those who see and corrupt what is just, to do good to a proselyte, to sow the land for six years and in the seventh to give it a release for the enjoyment of the poor or of beasts, likewise also the vineyard and the olive grove; to work for six days of the week, but to rest on the Sabbath. Not to swear by the name of another god, nor to utter it with the mouth. To celebrate three times a year: first the feast of unleavened bread for seven days in the month of new things, that is, at the first full moon of spring, a second feast of the harvest of first-fruits, and a third of the gathering of the works of the field at the end of the year. Not to appear empty before the Lord, and every male to appear before the Lord at these three feasts. Not to sacrifice the blood of the Lord's sacrifice with leaven, but with unleavened bread; for the fat of the feast not to remain until morning, and to bring the first-fruits of the produce of the land into the house of God. Above all, not to boil a lamb in its mother's milk. 154 When Moses came, he reported these ordinances of God to the people along with certain other divine exhortations, and all the people answered with one voice, saying: all the words of the Lord we will do and we will hear. And he wrote all these things. Then, rising early, he built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stones according to the tribes; and having sacrificed calves to God, he poured half of the blood on the altar; and he read again into the ears of the people the book of the covenant, and they said: all that the Lord has spoken we will do and we will hear. And taking the other half of the blood of the sacrifices in a bowl, he sprinkled it on the people and said: behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with us concerning all these words. And Moses, taking Aaron and Nadab and Abihu with seventy others of the elders, went up, where the God of Israel stood. And they saw the place and what was under his feet was like a work of sapphire stone and like the appearance of the firmament of heaven in its purity, and of the chosen of Israel not one perished. And they appeared in the place, and they ate and drank. Moses, therefore, his mind having been prepared by the general and specific laws, was commanded by God to ascend to the summit, where, going up with Joshua the son of Nun alone, he is led up to a more perfect initiation, a certain temple being shown to him, of great variety and hard to interpret, adorned with gateways and pillars and curtains, a table and lamps and an altar of incense and inaccessible inner sanctuaries; the account of whose construction he is commanded not only to hand down in writing, but also by the works themselves to imitate, as far as is possible for men, that immaterial and wonderful creation in a material structure, by means of the most precious materials found on earth, in the form of a tabernacle to be carried about with the migrants as they moved from place to place. And in the construction, gold was mostly used, poured around the pillars, and upon the capitals and the bases

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βοσκημάτων, καὶ ἅλωνος ἐμπρησμοῦ, παρακαταθήκης ἀργυρίου καὶ χρυσίου, καὶ ὑπο ζυγίων καὶ παντοίων κτηνῶν χρήσεως παρὰ τῷ πλησίον, φθορᾶς παρθέ νου, καὶ θανάτου φαρμακοῦ, κτηνοβασίας, καὶ θυσίας εἰδώλων, κακώ σεως προσηλύτου καὶ ὀρφανῶν καὶ χηρῶν, δανειζομένων, κακολογίας εἰς θεὸν καὶ ἄρχοντας λαοῦ, ἀπαρχῶν ἅλωνος καὶ ληνοῦ, πρωτοτόκων υἱῶν μόσχων τε καὶ προβάτων καὶ ὑποζυγίων, τοῦ εἶναι αὐτοὺς ἄνδρας ἁγίους θεῷ, καὶ κρέα θηριάλωτον μὴ ἐσθίειν, ἀλλὰ κυσὶν ἀπορρίπτειν, μὴ παρα δέχεσθαι ἀκοὴν ματαίαν, μὴ συμμαρτυρεῖν ἀδίκῳ, μὴ συνεῖναι πολλοῖς ἐπὶ κακίᾳ, μὴ ἐκκλῖναι μετὰ πολλῶν κρίσιν, μήτε ἐλεῆσαι πτωχὸν ἐν κρί σει, ἀποστρέφειν καὶ ἀποδιδόναι τὸν βοῦν καὶ τὸ ὑποζύγιον τοῦ ἐχθροῦ πλανώμενον εὑρόντα, καὶ πεπτωκὸς ὑπὸ τὸν γόμον συνεγείρειν, μὴ δια στρέφειν κρίσιν πένητος δικαίαν, ἀπὸ παντὸς ῥήματος ἀδίκου ἀφίστασθαι, μὴ ἀναιρεῖν ἀθῷον καὶ δίκαιον, μὴ δικαιοῦν τὸν ἀσεβῆ, δῶρα μὴ λαμ βάνειν ὡς ἐκτυφλοῦντα βλέποντας καὶ τὸ δίκαιον λυμαινόμενον, προσήλυ τον εὖ ποιεῖν, ἓξ ἔτη σπείρειν τὴν γῆν καὶ τῷ ζʹ ἄφεσιν αὐτῇ παρέχειν εἰς ἀπόλαυσιν πτωχοῖς ἢ θηρίοις, ὁμοίως καὶ τὸν ἀμπελῶνα καὶ τὸν ἐλαιῶνα ἓξ ἡμέρας ἐργάζεσθαι τῆς ἑβδομάδος, τῷ δὲ σαββάτῳ ἀναπαύεσθαι. Ὀνόματι θεὸν ἀλλότριον μὴ ὀμνύειν, μήτε προσφέρειν διὰ στόματος. τρεῖς καιροὺς τοῦ ἔτους ἑορτάζειν· τὴν ἑορτὴν τῶν ἀζύμων πρώτην ἑπτὰ ἡμερῶν τῷ μηνὶ τῶν νέων ἤτοι κατὰ τὴν πρώτην τοῦ ἔαρος πανσέληνον, δευτέραν ἑορτὴν θερισμοῦ πρωτογεννημάτων, καὶ τρίτην συναγωγῆς ἔργων τοῦ ἀγροῦ συντελείας ἀπὸ ἐξόδων ἐνιαυτοῦ. μὴ ὀφθῆναι κενὸν ἐνώ πιον κυρίου, καὶ πᾶν ἄρσεν ὀπτάνεσθαι ἐνώπιον κυρίου κατὰ τὰς τρεῖς ἑορτὰς ταύτας. μὴ θύειν ἐπὶ ζύμῃ αἷμα θυσιάσματος κυρίου, ἀλλ' ἐπ' ἀζύ μοις· μὴ μένειν ἕως πρωὶ στέαρ τῆς ἑορτῆς, καὶ τὰς ἀπαρχὰς τῶν πρω τογεννημάτων τῆς γῆς εἰσάγειν εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ. ἐφ' ἅπασι μὴ ἕψειν ἄρνα ἐν γάλακτι μητρὸς αὐτοῦ. 154 Ταῦτα τὰ δικαιώματα τοῦ θεοῦ Μωυσῆς ἐλθὼν ἀπήγγειλε τῷ λαῷ μετὰ καὶ ἄλλων τινῶν θείων παραινέσεων, καὶ ἀπεκρίθη πᾶς ὁ λαὸς μιᾷ φωνῇ λέγοντες· πάντας τοὺς λόγους κυρίου ποιήσομεν καὶ ἀκουσόμεθα. καὶ ἔγρα ψε ταῦτα πάντα. τότε ὀρθρίσας ᾠκοδόμησε θυσιαστήριον ὑπὸ τὸ ὄρος καὶ ιβʹ λίθους κατὰ φυλὴν ἔστησε· καὶ θύσας τῷ θεῷ μόσχους προσέχεε τὸ ἥμισυ τοῦ αἵματος πρὸς τὸ θυσιαστήριον· ἐπανέγνω τε αὖθις εἰς τὰ ὦτα τοῦ λαοῦ τὸ βιβλίον τῆς διαθήκης, καὶ εἶπον· πάντα ὅσα ἐλάλησε κύριος ποιήσομεν καὶ ἀκουσόμεθα. καὶ λαβὼν τὸ ἄλλο ἥμισυ τοῦ αἵματος τῶν θυσιῶν ἐν κρατῆρι κατεσκέδασε τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ εἶπεν· ἰδοὺ τὸ αἷμα τῆς δια θήκης ἧς διέθετο πρὸς ἡμᾶς κύριος περὶ πάντων τῶν λόγων τούτων. Παραλαβὼν δὲ Μωυσῆς τὸν Ἀαρὼν καὶ Ναδὰβ καὶ Ἀβιοὺδ σὺν ἄλλοις οʹ τῆς γερουσίας ἀνέβη, οὗ εἱστήκει ὁ θεὸς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. καὶ εἶδον τὸν τό πον καὶ τὰ ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ ὡσεὶ ἔργον λίθου σαπφείρου καὶ ὥσπερ εἶδος στερεώματος τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τῇ καθαρότητι, καὶ τῶν ἐπιλέκτων τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ οὐ διεφώνησεν οὐδὲ εἷς. καὶ ὤφθησαν ἐν τῷ τόπῳ, καὶ ἔφαγον καὶ ἔπιον. Τοῖς οὖν γενικοῖς καὶ ἰδικοῖς νόμοις Μωυσῆς προκαταρτηθεὶς τὴν διά νοιαν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀκρώρειαν ἀνελθεῖν ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ προσετάχθη, ἔνθα σὺν Ἰησοῦ τῷ τοῦ Ναυῆ μόνῳ προσαναβὰς ἐπὶ τελειοτέραν μυσταγωγίαν ἀνάγεται, ναοῦ τινος αὐτῷ παραδειχθέντος παμποικίλου καὶ δυσερμηνεύ του, προπυλαίοις καὶ στύλοις καὶ παραπετάσμασι τραπέζῃ τε καὶ λύχνοις καὶ θυμιατηρίῳ καὶ ἀνεπιβάτοις ἀδύτοις κεκαλλωπισμένου· ὧν τὴν τῆς κατασκευῆς ἱστορίαν οὐ γραφῇ παραδοῦναι μόνῃ κελεύεται, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐ τοῖς ἔργοις ὅσον ἀνθρώποις ἐκμιμήσασθαι δυνατὸν τὴν ἄυλον ἐκείνην καὶ θαυμαστὴν δημιουργίαν ἐν ὑλικῇ κατασκευῇ διὰ τῶν κατὰ γῆν εὑρισκο μένων τιμιωτάτων ὑλῶν ἐκμιμήσασθαι σκηνῆς τύπῳ συμπεριφερομένης τοῖς ἐκ τόπου τόπον ἀμείβουσι μετανάσταις. Ἐν δὲ τῇ κατασκευῇ πλέον μὲν ὁ χρυσὸς παρελήφθη κύκλῳ περικεχυμέ νος τοῖς στύλοις, κατὰ δὲ τὰς κορυφὰς καὶ τὰς βάσεις