73. Concerning the first judgment of ’Adrâmî, King of Rômê
And ’Adrâmî said unto them, “Hearken ye to the judgment which I will declare unto you. If the sheep have destroyed all the shoots from the root of the vine, then they all belong to thee. And if they have eaten the leaves of the branches, and the blossoms of the grapes, take the sheep, shear their wool, and [take also] the young of those which have not yet brought forth. But the sheep which have already brought forth young for the first time leave to the owner of the sheep.” And all those who heard the judgment which he pronounced marvelled, and Balṭâsâr said, “Verily, this judgment is a judgment of the people of the God of Israel. Henceforward judge him that hath a case at law, wage war with him that would wage war, rule him that would be ruled, keep alive him that should be kept alive, and pass the judgment that ought to be passed according as men would be judged, and take this city to thyself and to thy seed after thee.” And all the men of the city of Rômê were well pleased, and they made ’Adrâmî king over them, and they rejoiced in him with a great joy; for it happened thus by their will and by the Will of God. And [then] a fever seized Balṭâsâr, and thereupon he sent ’Adrâmî to the war, and into everything that he wished, whilst he himself remained in the city; and after this Balṭâsâr died, and ’Adrâmî directed the kingdom. And the city of Rômê became the possession of ’Adrâmî and of his generations after him, for by the Will of God the whole of the kingdom of the world was given to the seed of Shem, and slavery to the seed of Ham, and the handicrafts to the seed of Japhet.
74. Concerning the King of Medyâm
The king of Medyâm was of the seed of Shem. For of the seed of Isaac was Esau, who went forth from his mother’s womb with Jacob clinging to the sole of his foot; and Jacob carried away the right of the firstborn from Esau for the sake of a mess of pottage. And the name of Esau’S kingdom was called, according to his name of contempt, “Edom”, for the interpretation of “Edom” is “lentiles”; and because of this the seed of Esau were called “Edomites”. For through the greed of his belly he forsook and lost the right of the firstborn of the seed of Shem. For unless the soul be restrained by temperance, it will bring down into a net the whole of the lust of the belly which is of the body. For the body is greedy, but temperance restraineth the soul, and therefore Paul said, “That which the soul doth not wish the body wisheth; and that which the body doth not wish the soul wisheth, and each contendeth against the other.” If a man willeth a thing, and his soul bandeth itself with the desire of his body he becometh like the Devil; but if he restraineth his body, and his soul bandeth itself with his desire he becometh like Christ. For the Apostles say that Christ is the Head of every man who travelleth upon the straight road. And our Lord said unto His disciples, “Walk in the Spirit, and perform ye not the lust of your bodies.” And when they heard this they forsook all the lust of the flesh, and they said unto our Lord, “Behold now, we have forsaken everything and followed Thee; what is our reward?” And our Saviour said unto them, “Ye have made your bodies like unto those of the angels, and shall do mighty deeds even as do I. And behold, I have given you authority to raise the dead, and I have given you power to heal the sick, and ye shall trample upon all the power of the Enemy. And at My second coming ye shall judge and shall put to shame the Twelve Tribes of Israel, because they have not believed on Me, and have treated My glory with contempt. And as for those who believe in Me, ye shall magnify them and shall make them to rejoice with you in My kingdom.”
75. Concerning the King of Babylon
Now the King of Babylon is of the seed of Shem, and we will show you clearly that the King of Babylon is of the seed of Shem. It came to pass in days of old that there lived in the kingdom of Manasseh, the King of Israel, a certain man whose name was Karmîn, and he was a fearer of God, and he gave many alms and oblations to the poor of Israel. And when he made offerings to the house of God, he did so with sincerity, and his tithe he gave twofold; and he was good in all his ways, and there was no evil whatsoever before him. And Satan, the enemy of all good, became envious of him, for he saw that his course of life was good. And that man was exceedingly rich in camels and horses, and flocks of sheep, and herds of cattle, and gold and silver, and fine apparel, and he used to feed the mule of the king in ’Armâtêm, a city of Israel. Now his native place was the country of Judah, his fathers’ portion, but because of [his] love for wealth he departed into ’Armâtêm to dwell there, and Israel allowed him to settle there because of his riches; for he was exceedingly rich and had many possessions, and the governors [of Judah] were afraid of him.