Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered - The Preterist Archive

e[fu]se you, Ezekiel. Behold, I will me[as]ure [the time and shorten] (5) the days and the year[s . . .]
(6) a little. As you said to . . .' (7) For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things.
Fragment 3 Column 1 (1)[And 1 said: 'Lord, I have seen many men from Israel who] loved your Name
(2)[and walked in the Ways of Righteousness. And these things, when will they happen, and] how will
their Piety be rewarded?' (3) [the Lord said to me, 'I shall show t]he children of Israel, so that they will
know (4) [that I am the Lord.' Then he said, 'Son of Man, pro]phesy over the bones (5)[and say: 'Draw
together, bone to its bone and] joint to its joint.' And it was (6)[so. Then he said a second time,
'Prophesy, and let flesh cover the]m, and let them be covered with skin (7) [from above...]and let
sinews come upon them.' (8) [And it was so. Then he said again, 'Prophesy t]o the four winds (9) [of
Heaven, and let the winds blow on them, and th]ey will stand up- a great peo[ple], men...'
Fragment 3 Column 2 (1) and they will know that I am the Lord.' And he said to me, 'Consider
carefully, (2) Son of Man, the land of Israel.' And I said, 'I see, Lord; it is desolate. (3) When will you
gather them together?' And the Lord sai[d], 'A son of Belial will plan to oppress my people, (4) but I
will not allow him to do so. His rule shall not come to pass, but he will cause a multitude to be defiled
(and) there will be no seed left. (5) The mulberry bush will not produce wine, nor the bee honey ...(6) I
will slay the Wicked in Memphis, and leading My sons out of Memphis, I will turn upon the re[s]t. (7)
Just as they will say, 'Pe[a]ce and quiet is (ours), 'so they will say 'The land r[es]ts quietly.' (8) Just as
it was in the days of . . . ancient . . ., so . . . (9) [in the fo]ur corners of heaven . . . (10) [like a]
consuming [fi]re ...
Fragment 3 Column 3 (1).. . nor shall he have mercy on the Downtrodden, and he shall go to Babylon.
Now, Babylon is like a cup in the Lord's hand; like refu[se] (2) he will hurl it . . . (3) in Babylon, and it
will be ... (4) the dwelling of your fields . ..(5) their land will lie desolate ...
Fragments 4-6 (2)... and sovereignty will devolve upon the Genti[les] for [m]any[years,] while the
children of Israel [1...](3)a heavy yoke in the lands of their captivity, and they will have no Deliverer,
(4) because ...they have rejected My Laws, and their soul has scorned My teaching. Therefore I have
hidden (5) My face from [them, until] they fill up the measure of their sins. This will be the sign for
them, when they fill up the measure of (6) their sin ...I have abandoned the land because they have
hardened their hearts against Me, and they do not kno[w] (7) tha [t...they have] done Evil again and
again . .. (8) [and they broke My Covenant that I had made] with Ab[raham, I]saac and (9) [Jacob. [In]
those [days] a blasphemous king will arise among the Gentiles, and do evil things ... (10) Israel from
(being) a people. In his days I will break the Kingdom (11) of Egypt... both Egypt and Israel will I
break, (and) give (them) over to the sword. (12)... [hi]gh places of the 1[and ...] I have removed (its)
inhabitants and abandoned the land into (13) the hands of the Angels of Mastemoth (Satan/Belial). I
have hidden [My face from Is]rael. This will be their (14) sign: in the day when they leave the land
...(15) the priests of Jerusalem to serve other gods ... (16) three [kings] who will rul[e ...
11. Pseudo-Daniel (4Q243-245)
The pseudo-Daniel portions that follow describe one or more occasions on which Daniel stood before
King Belshazzar (cf. Dan. 5). Like Pseudo-Jeremiah, Second Ezekiel, and the Damascus Document,
they furnish a tantalizingly mysterious and often apocalyptic view of history. This text refers to: 1. the
flood and the tower of Babel; 2. the exodus from Egypt; 3. the exile to Babylon; 4. the first four