Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered - The Preterist Archive

Translation
Fragment 1 (2) [and] break[ing . . .] again (?) . . . the sons of Aaron . . . seventy years ...(3) and the
sons of Aaron shall rule them, but they shall not walk in My Wa[ys,] which I comm[an]d you and
which (4) you shall warn them about. They also (i.e., sons of Aaron) shall do what is Evil in my eyes,
exactly as Israel did (5) in the early days of its Kingdom-apart from those who will come up first from
the land where they have been captive, to build (6) the Temple. And I will speak to them and send
them Commandments, and they will understand to what extent (7) they have wandered astray, they and
their forefathers. But from the end of that generation, corresponding to the Seventh jubilee (8) since
the desolation of the land, they will forget Law and festival, Sabbath and Covenant. They will break
(i.e., violate) everything, and do (9) what is evil in My eyes. Thus I shall turn My face away from
them, and give them into the hands of their enemies, delivering [them] (10) to the sword. Yet I will
spare a remnant, so th[at] in My anger and My turning away from them, they will not be des[royed].
(11) And the Angels of Mas[t]emoth will rule over them and ... they will turn aside and (12) do . ..
what I consider Evil, walking in the stub[borness of their hearts ...]
Fragment 2 Column 1, (2) [My] house [and My altar and] the Hol[y] Temple ... (3) thus it will be done
...[flor these things shall come upon them ... and (4) the rule of Belial will [be] upon them, and they
will be delivered to the sword for a week of year[s... From the] beginning of that jubilee they will (5)
break all My Laws and all my Commandments that I commanded th[em, though I send them] my
servants the Prophets. (6) And they wi[I1 be]gin to quarrel with one another. Seventy years from the
day when they broke the [Law and the] Covenant, I will give them (7)[into the power of the An]gels of
Mastemoth, who will rule them, and they (i.e., the people) will neither know nor understand that I am
angry at them because of their rebellion, (8)[because they aban]doned Me and did what was evil in My
eyes, and because they chose what displeases Me, overpowering others for the sake of Riches and
profiteering (9) . . . They will rob their neigh[b]ors and oppress one another and defile My Temple (10)
... and] My festivals . . . through [their] children they will pollu[te] their seed. Their priests will
commit violence . . .
Fragment 2 Column 2 (4) from it ...(5) and with a word ...(6) we ... (7) they will know, and I will send
... (8) and with compassion to as[k...] (9) in the midst of the land [and] on ...(10) their possession and
they will sacrifice in it ... (11) they will pollute it and the alta[r...]
9. Pseudo-Jeremiah (4Q385)
This text, attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, contains many interesting characteristics. In the first
place, one should note the seemingly interchangeable references to the Lord and God. The emphasis on
'keeping the Covenant' encountered above is continued - in this case even in captivity. The style shifts
in the second and third fragments if in fact all the fragments are part of the same document - to the first