92. How they renewed the kingdom of David
And Azariah said, “Bring hither the jubilee trumpets, and let us go to Zion, and there we will make new the kingdom of our lord David.” And he took the oil of sovereignty and filled the horn [therewith], and he anointed David with the unguent, that is to say, with the oil of sovereignty. And they blew horns and pipes and trumpets, and beat drums, and sounded all kinds of musical instruments, and there were singing and dancing and games, and [displays] with horses and shield [-men], and all the men and women of the people of the country of Ethiopia were present, small and great, and the little Blacks, six thousand in number, and virgin women whom Azariah had chosen for the women of Zion by the law, whom David the King had destined for [the service of] the table and banquets in the royal fortress when he should go up thereto [clad in] raiment of fine gold. And in this wise was renewed the kingdom of David, the son of Solomon the king of Israel, in the capital city, in Mount Mâkĕdâ, in the House of Zion, when the Law was established for the first time by the King of Ethiopia.
And then when he had completed the stablishing of the Law, they made, according to what they had seen in Jerusalem, the Law in the House of Zion for the nobles of the kingdom, and for those who were inside, and for those that were outside, and for the people, and for the islands, and for the cities, and for the provinces; and for all the inhabitants and for all their tribal kinsfolk they made ordinances in the same manner. And thus the eastern boundary of the kingdom of the King of Ethiopia is the beginning of the city of Gâzâ in the land of Judah, that is, Jerusalem; and its boundary is the Lake of Jericho, and it passeth on by the coast of its sea to Lêbâ and Sâbâ; and its boundary goeth down to Bîsîs and ’Asnêt; and its boundary is the Sea of the Blacks and Naked Men, and goeth up Mount Kêbêrênêyôn into the Sea of Darkness, that is to say, the place where the sun setteth; and its boundary extendeth to Fênê’Êl and Lasîfâlâ; and its borders are the lands [near] the Garden (i.e., Paradise), where there is food in plenty and abundance of cattle, and [near] Fênêḳên; and its boundary reacheth as far as Zâwêl and passeth on to the Sea of India; and its boundary is as far as the Sea of Tarsîs, and in its remote (?) part lieth the Sea of Medyâm, until it cometh to the country of Gâzâ; and its boundary is the place where [our enumeration] began. And moreover, the dominion of the King of Ethiopia belongeth to him and to his seed for ever.
93. How the Men of Rômê destroyed the Faith
And after they had waited for three months—now Zion came into the country of Ethiopia at the beginning of the first month in the language of the Hebrews, and in Greek Târmôn and in Gĕ’Ĕz (Ethiopic) Mîyâzyâ, on the sixth (or, seventh) day—they wrote down the Law and the names, and they deposited [the writing] for a memorial for the later days, so that what was right should be done for the pavilion [of Zion] thereby, and so that the glory of the kings of Ethiopia and the glory of the kings of Rômê might be well known. For the kings of Ethiopia and the kings of Rômê were brethren and held the Christian Faith. Now first of all they believed in an orthodox manner in the preaching of the Apostles up to [the time of] Constantine, and ’Ĕlênî (Helena) the Queen, who brought forth the wood of the Cross, and they (i.e., the kings of Rômê) continued [to believe for] one hundred and thirty years.
And afterwards, Satan, who hath been the enemy of man from of old, rose up, and seduced the people of the country of Rômê, and they corrupted the Faith of Christ, and they introduced heresy into the Church of God by the mouth of Nestorius. And Nestorius, and Arius, and Yabâsô (?) were those into whose hearts he cast the same jealousy as he had cast into the heart of Cain to slay his brother Abel. In like manner did their father the Devil, the enemy of righteousness and the hater of good, cast jealousy, even as David saith, “They speak violence in the heights of heaven, and set their mouths in the heavens, and their tongue waggeth on the earth.” And those same men who know not whence they came, and know not whither they are going, revile their Creator with their tongues, and blaspheme His glory, while He is God, the Word of the Lord. He came down from the throne of His Godhead, and put on the body of Adam, and He is God the Word. And in that body He was crucified so that He might redeem Adam in his iniquity, and He went up into the heavens, and sat upon the throne of His Godhead in that body, which He had taken. And He shall come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and shall reward every man according to his work, for ever and ever. Amen.
And we believe thus and we adore the Holy Trinity. And those who do not believe thus are excommunicated by the Word of God, the King of heaven and earth, both in this world and in that world which is to come. And we are strong in the Orthodox Faith which the Fathers the Apostles have delivered unto us, the Faith of the Church. And thus Ethiopia continued to abide in her Faith until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.