3 Meqabyan (Ethiopian) 2

You have erred from the praise of God because of the hardness of your hearts and the pride of your reasoning, which has no profit, and because you exalted yourselves above Him who created you, and not above another.

As for me, I provoke all the children of Adam in everything, and I will not let them stand firm in good works, if I am able to lead them astray; for I provoke all the children of Adam, and I make the desires of the world sweet to them.

Whether through the craving of foods, the craving of drink, and the love of garments; or through the love of speech, of giving, and of taking;

or through the love of seeing, the love of hearing, the love of going about and touching; or through abundance of proud speech, and the love of slumber and dreams;

or through abundance of drinking and drunkenness; or through gazing upon the fair women of this world, and the fragrances of perfumes that lead them astray;

or through slander and contention with their fellows; or through gazing upon the fair women of this world, and the fragrances of perfumes that lead them astray;

by all these I set myself against them, that they may not be able to be saved; and I turn them aside from the way of God, that they may enter with me into the destruction for which I was driven from my throne.

And the prophet said: You destroyer and devourer, will you so exalt yourself against the handiwork of God, when you transgressed the commandment of God in your pride and in the hardness of your heart, in provoking your Creator and not praising your God?

And when your Creator was angry with you, He cast you out because of the evil of your works; why then do you lead toward sin the poor one whom his God formed from earth and ashes, and made according to His will, and set for His praise?

While you, a spiritual being, exalted yourself, saying you were God—you whom He created from a flame of fire and from wind—

and while you boasted, God saw the evil of your works, and He created the one of earth in your place, that He might praise His name without ceasing; for you, with your demons, transgressed the commandment of God.

And He created Adam with his children to praise the name of God in place of the praise that was yours, together with your hosts, who despised God because of your pride; for you exalted yourself above all the angels who were like you, the hosts of angels.

And for this cause God removed you from all the chief angels who were like you; and your hosts, who were created with you, went forth and erred from the praise of God because of your worthless pride and hardness of heart; for you exalted yourself against your Creator, and not against another.

And for this cause He created Adam from the dust of the earth, that He might be praised by the lowly; and He gave him a law and a commandment, that he should not eat of the fruit of the tree.

And He set him over all that He had created, and instructed him, saying: Eat of every tree that is in the garden; but of one tree, the tree of the deadly thorn, do not eat, lest you bring death upon yourself.

And when you heard this word, you spat the venom from your mouth upon Eve, the rib of Adam's side.

And you betrayed the pure lamb with evil cunning, that you might make him a transgressor of the commandment, like yourself.

And when you led Eve astray—she who was created like a gentle dove, and did not know your malice—you led her astray by your crooked word and your deceitful speech. And after you had led astray that first handiwork, she went and led astray the handiwork of God, Adam, the first man, who was created from earth.

And in your pride you cast him into a confusion that was not his own, and made him deny the word of his Creator; and in your pride you destroyed the poor one.

And in your malice you removed him far from the love of his God; and by your reasoning you cast him out from the garden of joy; and by your stumbling-block you made him forsake the food of the garden.

And by your lie you made him thirst for the drink of the garden; for from of old you set yourself against the gentle handiwork, Adam, that you might bring him down into the death of your Sheol, and remove him from the love of his God, who brought him out of nonexistence into true being.

And though he is of earth, He made him spiritual and able to speak, one who praises and sings to his God with his soul, his body, and his reasoning.

And He created for him many thoughts, like the praise of harps in all their varied modes.