50. How they bade farewell to his Father and how the city mourned

The Kebra Nagast, by E.A. Wallis Budge, [1932], at sacred-texts.com

50. How they bade farewell to his Father and how the city mourned

   And they bade [the king] farewell and departed. And first of all they set ZION by night upon a wagon together with a mass of worthless stuff, and dirty clothes, and stores of every sort and kind. And [when] all the wagons were loaded, and the masters of the caravan rose up, and the horn was blown, and the city became excited, and the youths shouted loudly, awesomeness crowned it and grace surrounded it (i.e., ZION). And the old men wailed, and the children cried out, and the widows wept, and the virgins lamented, because the sons of their nobles, the mighty men of ISRAEL, had risen up to depart. But the city did not weep for them alone, but because the majesty of the city had been carried off with them. And although they did not know actually that ZION had been taken from them, they made no mistake in their hearts and they wept bitterly; and they were then even as they were when God slew the firstborn of EGYPT. There was not a house wherein there was not wailing, from man even to the beast; the dogs p. 74 howled, and the asses screamed, and all those who were left there mingled their tears together. It was as though the generals of a mighty army had besieged the great city, and had captured it by assault, and looted it, and taken its people prisoners and slain them with the edge of the sword; even thus was that city of ZION—JERUSALEM.

   And King SOLOMON was dismayed at the weeping and outcry of the city, and he looked out from the roof of the palace, the fort of the king's house, and saw the whole city weeping and following them. And as a child, whom his mother hath removed from her breast and left, followeth in her footsteps crying out and weeping, even so did the people cry out and weep; and they cast dust upon their heads, and they shed tears with their eyes. And when SOLOMON saw the majesty of those who had departed, he was deeply moved and he trembled, and his bowels quaked, and his tears fell drop by drop upon his apparel, and he said, "Woe is me! for my glory hath departed, and the crown of my splendour hath fallen, and my belly is burned up because this my son hath departed, and the majesty of my city and the freemen, the children of my might, are removed. From this moment our glory hath passed away, and our kingdom hath been carried off unto a strange people who know not God, even as the prophet saith, 'The people who have not sought Me have found Me.'¹ From this time forth the law, and wisdom, and understanding shall be given unto them. And my father prophesied concerning them, saying, 'ETHIOPIA shall bow before Him, and His enemies shall eat the dust.'² And in another [place] he saith, 'ETHIOPIA shall stretch out her hands to God, and He shall receive her with honour, and the kings of the earth shall praise God.'³ And in a third [place] he saith, 'Behold, the PHILISTINES,⁴ and the p. 75 Tyrians, and the people of ETHIOPIA, who were born without the Law. The Law shall be given unto them, and they shall say unto ZION, 'our mother¹ because of a man who shall be born.' Will this man then be my son who is begotten of me?"

Footnotes

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¹ Isaiah lxv. 1.

² Psalm lxxii. 9, 10.

³ Psalm lxviii. 31.

⁴ Psalm lxxxiii. 7 (?).

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¹ Compare Psalm lxxxvii. 2-4; Isaiah li. 16.