you are here: > Testament of Solomon > Chapter 20
 
Chapter 20  
     
1.
 And I Solomon had much quiet in all the earth, and spent my life in profound peace, honoured by all men and by all under heaven.  
2.
 And I built the entire Temple of the Lord God.  
3.
 And my kingdom was prosperous, and my army was with me.  
4.
 And for the rest the city of Jerusalem had repose, rejoicing and delighted.  
5.
 And all the kings of the earth came to me from the ends of the earth to behold the Temple which I builded to the Lord God.  
6.
 And having heard of the wisdom given to me, they did homage to me in the Temple, bringing gold and silver and precious stones, many and divers, and bronze, and iron, and lead, and cedar logs. And woods decay not they brought me, for the equipment of the Temple of God.
 
7.
 And among them also the queen of Ethopians, being a witch, came in great concern and bowed low before me to the earth.  
8.
 And having heard my wisdom, she glorified the God of Israel, and she made formal trial of all my wisdom, of all love in which I instructed her, according to the wisdom imparted to me.  
9.
 And all the sons of Israel glorified God.  
10.
 And behold, in those days one of the workmen, of ripe old age, threw himself down before me, and said: "King Solomon, pity me, because I am old."  
11.
 So I bade him stand up, and said: "Tell me, old man, all you will." And he answered: "I beseech you king, I have an only-born son, and he insults and beats me openly, and plucks out the hair of my head, and threatens me with a painful death. Therefore I beseech you avenge me.
 
12.
 And I Solomon, on hearing this, felt compunction as I looked at his old age; and I bade the child be brought to me.  
13.
 And when he was brought I questioned him whether it were true.  
14.
 And the youth said: "I was not so filled with madness as to strike my father with my hand. Be kind to me, O king. For I have not dared to commit such impiety, poor wretch that I am."  
15.
 But I Solomon on hearing this from the youth, exhorted the old man to reflect on the matter, and accept his son's apology.
 
16.
 However, he would not, but said he would rather let him die.
 
17.
 And as the old man would not yield, I was about to pronounce sentence on the youth, when I saw Ornias the demon laughing.  
18.
 I was very angry at the demon's laughing in my presence; and I ordered my men to remove the other parties, and bring forward Ornias before my tribunal.  
19.
 And when he was brought before me, I said to him: "Accursed one, why didst thou look at me and laugh?"  
20.
 And the demon answered: "Prithee, king, it was not because of thee I laughed, but because of this ill-starred old man and the wretched youth, his son. For after three days his son will die untimely; and lo, the old man desires to foully make away with him."  
21.
 But I Solomon, having heard this, said to the demon: "Is that true that thou speakest?"  
22.
 And he answered: "It is true; O king."  
23.
 And I, on hearing that, bade them remove the demon, and that they should again bring before me the old man with his son.  
24.
 I bade them 40 make friends with one another again, and I supplied them with food. And then I told the old man after three days to bring his son again to me here; "and," said I, "I will attend to him."  
25.
 And they saluted me, and went their way.
 
26.
 And when they were gone I ordered Ornias to be brought forward, and said to him: "Tell me how you know this;"  
27.
 and he answered: "We demons ascend into the firmament of heaven, and fly about among the stars. And we hear the sentences which go forth upon the souls of men, and forthwith we come, and whether by force of influence, or by fire, or by sword, or by some accident, we veil our act of destruction;  
28.
 and if a man does not die by some untimely disaster or by violence, then we demons transform ourselves in such a way as to appear to men and be worshipped in our human nature."  
29.
 I therefore, having heard this, glorified the Lord God, and again I questioned the demon, saying: "Tell me how ye can ascend into heaven, being demons, and amidst the stars and holy angels intermingle."  
30.
 And he answered: "Just as things are fulfilled in heaven, so also on earth (are fulfilled) the types1 of all of them.  
31.
 For there are principalities, authorities, world-rulers2, and we demons fly about in the air; and we hear the voices of the heavenly beings, and survey all the powers.  
32.
 And as having no ground (basis) on which to alight and rest, we lose strength and fall off like leaves from trees.  
33.
 And men seeing us imagine that the stars are falling from heaven. But it is not really so, O king;
 
34.
 but we fall because of our weakness, and because we have nowhere anything to lay hold of;  
35.
 and so we fall down like lightnings3 in the depth of night and suddenly.  
36.
 And we set cities in flames and fire the fields. For the stars have firm foundations in the heavens like the sun and the moon."  
37.
 And I Solomon, having heard this, ordered the demon to be guarded for five days.  
38.
 And after the five days I recalled the old man, and was about to question him. But he came to me in grief and with black face.  
39.
 And I said to him: "Tell me, old man, where is thy son? And what means this garb?"  
40.
 And he answered: "Lo, I am become childless, and sit by my son's grave in despair. For it is already two days that he is dead."  
41.
 But I Solomon, on hearing that, and knowing that the demon Ornias had told me the truth, glorified the God of Israel.  
42.
 And the queen of the Ethopians saw all this, and marvelled, glorifying the God of Israel; and she beheld the Temple of the Lord being builded.  
43.
 And she gave a siklos1 of gold and one hundred myriads of silver and choice bronze, and she went into the Temple.
 
44.
 And (she beheld) the altar of incense and the brazen supports of this altar, and the gems of the lamps flashing forth of different colours, and of the lamp-stand of stone, and of emerald, and hyacinth, and sapphire; and she beheld the vessels of gold, and silver, and bronze, and wood, and the folds of skins dyed red with madder.  
45.
 And she saw the bases of the pillars of the Temple of the Lord. All were of one gold ...2 apart from the demons whom I condemned to labour.  
46.
 And there was peace in the circle of my kingdom and over all the earth.  

 
 
 

Copyright © 2010 One-Faith-Of-God.Org. All rights reserved.