you are here: > Testament of Solomon > Chapter 21
 
Chapter 21  
     
1.
 And it came to pass, which I was in my kingdom, the King of the Arabians, Adares, sent me a letter, and the writing of the letter was written as follows:  
2.
 To King Solomon, all hail! Lo, we have heard, and it hath been heard unto all the ends of the earth, concerning the wisdom vouchsafed in thee, and that thou art a man merciful from the Lord.
 
3.
 And understanding hath been granted thee over all the spirits of the air, and on earth, and under the earth.  
4.
 Now, forasmuch as there is present in the land of Arabia a spirit of the following kind: at early dawn there begins to blow a certain wind until the third hour.  
5.
 And its blast is harsh and terrible, and it slays man and beast. And no spirit can live upon earth against this demon. I pray thee then, forasmuch as the spirit is a wind, contrive something according to the wisdom given in thee by the Lord thy God, and deign to send a man able to capture it.  
6.
 -- And behold, King Solomon, I and my people and all my land will serve thee unto death.
 
7.
 And all Arabia shall be at peace with thee, if thou wilt perform this act of righteousness for us.  
8.
 Wherefore we pray thee, contemn not our humble prayer, and suffer not to be utterly brought to naught the eparchy subordinated to thy authority.  
9.
 Because we are suppliants, both I and my people and all my land. Farewell to my Lord. All health!  
10.
 And I Solomon read this epistle; and I folded it up and gave it to my people, and said to them: "After seven days shalt thou remind me of this epistle.  
11.
 And Jerusalem was built, and the Temple was being completed.  
12.
 And there was a stone1, the end stone [42] of the corner lying there, great, chosen out, one which I desired lay in the head of the corner of the completion of the Temple.
 
13.
 And all the workmen, and all the demons helping them came to the same place to bring up the stone and lay it on the pinnacle of the holy Temple, and were not strong enough to stir it, and lay it upon the corner allotted to it.  
14.
 For that stone was exceedingly great and useful for the corner of the Temple."  
15.
 And after seven days, being reminded of the epistle of Adares, King of Arabia, I called my servant and said to him: "Order thy camel and take for thyself a leather flask, and take also this seal.  
16.
 And go away into Arabia to the place in which the evil spirit blows; and there take the flask, and the signet-ring in front of the mouth of the flask, and (hold them) towards the blast of the spirit.  
17.
 And when the flask is blown out, thou wilt understand that the demon is (in it).  
18.
 Then hastily tie up the mouth of to flask, and seal it securely with the seal-ring, and lay it carefully on the camel and bring it me hither.  
19.
 And if on the way it offer thee gold or silver or treasure in return for letting it go, see that thou be not persuaded. But arrange without using oath to release it.  
20.
 And then if it point out to the places where are gold or silver, mark the places and seal them with this seal. And bring the demon to me. And now depart, and fare thee well."
 
21.
 Then the youth did as was bidden him. And he ordered his camel, and laid on it a flask, and set off into Arabia. And the men of that region would not believe that he would be able to catch the evil spirit.  
22.
 And when it was dawn, the servant stood before the spirit's blast, and laid the flask on the ground, and the finger-ring on the mouth of the flask.  
23.
 And the demon blew through the middle of the finger-ring into the mouth of the flask, and going in blew out the flask. But the man promptly stood up to it and drew tight with his hand the mouth of the flask, in the name of the Lord God of Sabaôth.  
24.
 And the demon remained within the flask.  
25.
 And after that the youth remained in that land three days to make trial.  
26.
 And the spirit no longer blew against that city. And all the Arabs knew that he had safely shut in the spirit.
 
27.
 Then the youth fastened the flask on the camel, and the Arabs sent him forth on his way with much honour and precious gifts, praising and magnifying the God of Israel.  
28.
 But the youth brought in the bag and laid it in the middle of the Temple. And on the next day, I King Solomon, went into the Temple of God and sat in deep distress about the stone of the end of the corner.  
29.
 And when I entered the Temple, the flask stood up and walked around some seven steps and then fell on its mouth and did homage to me.  
30.
 And I marvelled that even along with the bottle the demon still had power and could walk about; and I commanded it to stand up.  
31.
 And the flask stood up, and stood on its feet all blown out.  
32.
 And I questioned him, saying: "Tell me, who art thou?"  
33.
 And the spirit within said: "I am the demon called Ephippas, that is in Arabia."  
34.
 And I said to him: "Is this thy name?" And he answered: "Yes; wheresoever I will, I alight and set fire and do to death."
 
35.
 And I said to him: "By what angel art thou frustrated?"  
36.
 And he answered: "By the only-ruling God, that hath authority over me even to be heard.  
37.
 He that is to be born of a virgin and crucified by the Jews on a cross. Whom the angels and archangels worship.  
38.
 He doth frustrate me, and enfeeble me of my great strength, which has been given me by my father the devil."  
39.
 And I said to him: "What canst thou do?'' And he answered: ''I am able to remove1 mountains, to overthrow the oaths of kings. I wither trees and make their leaves to fall off."  
40.
 And I said to him: "Canst thou raise this stone, and lay it for the beginning of this corner which exists in the fair plan of the Temple2?''  
41.
 And he said: "Not only raise this, O king; but also, with the help of the demon who presides over the Red Sea, I will bring up the pillar of air3, and will stand it where thou wilt in Jerusalem.''  
42.
 Saying this, I laid stress on him, and the flask became as if depleted of air.  
43.
 And I placed it under the stone, and (the spirit) girded himself up, and lifted it up top of the flask. And the flask went up the steps, carrying the stone, and laid it down at the end of the entrance of the Temple.  
44.
 And I Solomon, beholding the stone raised aloft and placed on a foundation, said: "Truly the Scripture is fulfilled, which says: 'The stone which the builders rejected on trial, that same is become the head of the corner.'  
45.
 For this it is not mine to grant, but God's, that the demon should be strong enough to lift up so great a stone and deposit it in the place I wished."  
46.
 And Ephippas led the demon of the Red Sea with the column.  
47.
 And they both took the column and raised it aloft from the earth.  
48.
 And I outwitted these two spirits, so that they could not shake the entire earth in a moment of time.  
49.
 And then I sealed round with my [44] ring on this side and that, and said: "Watch." And the spirits have remained upholding it until this day, for proof of the wisdom vouchsafed to me.
 
50.
 And there the pillar was hanging of enormous size, in mid air, supported by the winds.  
51.
 And thus the spirits appeared underneath, like air, supporting it.
 
52.
 And if one looks fixedly, the pillar is a little oblique, being supported by the spirits; and it is so to day.  
53.
 And I Solomon questioned the other spirit which came up with the pillar from the depth of the Red Sea.  
54.
 And I said to him: "Who art thou, and what calls thee? And what is thy business? For I hear many things about thee.''  
55.
 And the demon answered: "I, O King Solomon, am called Abezithibod. I am a descendant of the archangel. Once as I sat in the first heaven, of which the name is Ameleouth -- I then am a fierce spirit and winged, and with a single wing, plotting against every spirit under heaven.  
56.
 I was present when Moses went in before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and I hardened his heart.  
57.
 I am he whom Iannes and Iambres invoked homing1 with Moses in Egypt.  
58.
 I am he who fought against Moses 2 with wonders with signs."
 
59.
 I said therefore to him: "How wast thou found in the Red Sea?"  
60.
 And he answered: "In the exodus of the sons of Israel I hardened the heart of Pharaoh.  
61.
 And I excited his heart and that of his ministers. And I caused them to pursue after the children of Israel.  
62.
 And Pharaoh followed with (me) and all the Egyptians.  
63.
 Then I was present there, and we followed together. And we all came up upon the Red Sea.  
64.
 And it came to pass when the children of Israel had crossed over, the water returned and hid all the host of the Egyptians and all their might.  
65.
 And I remained in the sea, being kept under this pillar.  
66.
 But when Ephippas came, being sent by thee, shut up in the vessel of a flask, he fetched me up to thee."  
67.
 I, therefore, Solomon, having heard this, glorified God and adjured the demons not to disobey me, but to remain supporting the pillar.  
68.
 And they both sware, saying: "The Lord thy God liveth, we will not let go this pillar until the world's end.  
69.
 But on whatever day this stone fall, then shall be the end of the world.  

 
 
 

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