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Brit Damesek
Damascus Document
Introduction
Introduction to Sefer Beriyt Dammesek (The Damascus Document / Zadokite Fragments)
Sefer Beriyt Dammesek, traditionally known as the Damascus Document or the Zadokite Fragments, is a cornerstone foundational text preserved within The Ivri Heritage Bible. Originating from a devout, penitent community of Yisra'el—the Yachad—this text provides an invaluable historical and theological blueprint for a faithful remnant (she'erit) seeking to walk perfectly in the pathways of tzedek (righteousness) during an age of widespread spiritual and political defection. Structured as an instructional and legal discourse, the document balances a profound historical narrative with an explicit, highly detailed communal code designed to safeguard the beriyt (covenant) until the final days.
The text develops across several core thematic frameworks:
• The History of the Remnant and the True Teacher: The opening chapters recount the spiritual climate of Yisra'el following the Babylonian exile, noting a period of historical blindness where the people groped for the path. In response to their sincere repentance, El raised up the Moreh Tzedek (the Teacher of Righteousness) to guide the community in truth, while fiercely condemning opposing figures like the Ish HaLatzon (the Man of Scorn) and the Ish HaKazav (the Man of Lies) who led the masses astray with false teachings.
• The Three Nets of Beliya'al: The text identifies the overarching traps set by the adversary (Beliya'al) to ensnare Yisra'el during the epoch of wickedness: zenut (sexual immorality), hon (wealth wickedly gotten), and the defilement of the Mikdash (the Sanctuary). The community is strictly warned against matching the stubbornness of previous generations, such as the fallen Irin (Watchers) or the rebellious generations in the wilderness.
• The Covenant in Damascus and the Bnei Tzadok: Central to the document is the establishment of the Beriyt Chadashah (the New Covenant) in Eretz Dammesek (the land of Damascus). Here, the Bnei Tzadok (Sons of Zadok) and the penitents emerge as the faithful elite who guard the true interpretation of the Torah, keep the holy Shabbatot (Sabbaths), and preserve the exact calendar of the mo'adim (appointed festival times).
• Communal Discipline and Penal Code: The latter chapters outline the strict operational rules of the community camps. Governed by the Mevaqqer (Overseer) and the Kohanim (priests), the text details explicit protocols regarding judicial qualifications, purification waters, strict limits on Shabbat labor, dietary restrictions, and an exact penal system punishing behaviors such as bearing grudges, foolish speech, or murmuring against the leadership.
Concluding with an unyielding promise of deliverance, Sefer Beriyt Dammesek guarantees that those who hold fast to these statutes, heed the voice of the Moreh Tzedek, and find refuge in the holy Name of Yahuah will ultimately see His yeshuah (salvation). This edition, complete with an extensive Hebraic and Messianic glossary, restores the vital textual lineage of the Yachad, presenting their strict dedication to the Torah as a guide for the faithful waiting upon the Mashiach of Aharon and Yisra'el.
Brit Damesek (Damascus Document)—Chapter 1
The Founding of the Remnant, and the Raising of the Moreh Tzedek
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1Now therefore hearken unto me, all you who know tzedek [righteousness; justice],2and have understanding in the works of El [God (the divine title used by the Yachad)]; for He has a controversy with all flesh, and will execute judgment upon all who despise Him.3For because of the trespass of those who forsook Him, He hid His face from Yisra'el [Israel] and from His Mikdash [the Sanctuary (Temple)], and gave them over to the sword.4But when He remembered the beriyt [covenant] of the forefathers, He left a she'erit [a remnant] to Yisra'el, and gave them not over to destruction.5And in the period of the wrath — three hundred and ninety years after He had given them into the hand of Nevuchadnetzar [Nebuchadnezzar] the king of Bavel [Babylon] — He visited them; and He made to spring forth from Yisra'el and Aharon [Aaron] a root of His planting, to inherit His land and to grow fat through the goodness of His earth.6And they had understanding of their iniquity, and knew that they were guilty men; yet they were like the blind, and like them that grope for the way, twenty years.7And El considered their works, for they sought Him with a perfect heart; and He raised up for them a Moreh Tzedek [the Teacher of Righteousness], to lead them in the way of His heart.8And He made known to the later generations what He had done to a congregation of treacherous men — those who turned aside out of the way.9This was the time concerning which it was written: As a stubborn heifer, so has Yisra'el behaved himself stubbornly.10When there arose the Ish HaLatzon [the Man of Scorn (the Scoffer)], who dropped upon Yisra'el the waters of lies, and made them go astray in a wilderness where there was no way — to bring low the pride of the world;11so that they should turn aside from the paths of tzedek, and remove the landmark which the forefathers had set in their inheritance;12so as to make cleave unto them the curses of His beriyt, to deliver them to the sword that avenges with the vengeance of the beriyt.13Because they sought after smooth things, and chose deceits, and kept watch with a view to lawless deeds;14and they chose the best of the neck, and justified the wicked, and condemned the righteous;15and transgressed the beriyt, and violated the statute, and assailed the soul of the righteous;16and all that walked uprightly their soul abhorred, and they pursued them with the sword, and rejoiced in the strife of the people.17And so the wrath of El was kindled against their congregation, so that He laid waste all their multitude; and their deeds were uncleanness before Him.
Brit Damesek (Damascus Document)—Chapter 2
Wisdom and Pardon for the Penitent; Wrath for the Stiff-Necked; and the Mashiach
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1And now hearken unto me, all you who have entered into the beriyt, and I will disclose to you the ways of the wicked.2El loves wisdom, and counsel He has set before Him; prudence and knowledge minister unto Him.3Longsuffering is with Him, and plenteousness of forgivenesses, to pardon those who repent of transgression.4But power and might and great fury with flames of fire — wherein are all the malakhei chabalah [the angels of destruction] — are for those who turned aside out of the way and abhorred the statute,5so that there should be no she'erit nor any to escape of them.6For El chose them not from the beginning of the world, and ere they were formed He knew their works.7And He abhorred their generations from of old, and hid His face from their land until they were consumed.8And He knew the years of their office, and the number and exact statement of their periods, for all the things that belong to the ages and have been, and whatsoever shall come to pass in their periods, for all the years of eternity.9Yet in all of them He raised Him up men called by name, in order to leave a she'erit to the earth, and to fill the face of the earth with their seed.10And through His Mashiach [Messiah; the Anointed One] He shall make them know His Ruach HaKodesh [the Holy Spirit]; and he is true, and in the true interpretation of his name are their names; but those whom He hated He made to go astray.
Brit Damesek (Damascus Document)—Chapter 3
The Warning Against the Evil Yetzer, and the Roll of Those Who Fell
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1And now, my children, hearken unto me, and I will open your eyes to see and to understand the works of El, and to choose that which He has pleasure in, and to reject that which He hates;2to walk perfectly in all His ways, and not to go about in the thoughts of an evil yetzer [the (evil) inclination or imagination], and after eyes full of fornication. For many went astray thereby, and mighty men of valour stumbled thereby, from aforetime and until now.3Because they walked in the stubbornness of their heart, the Irin [the Watchers (fallen angels of heaven)] of heaven fell; yea, they were caught thereby, because they kept not the mitzvot [commandments] of El;4and their sons, whose height was like the loftiness of cedars and whose bodies were like mountains, fell thereby.5All flesh that was on the dry land fell thereby; for they died and became as though they had not been, because they did their own pleasure and kept not the mitzvot of their Maker, so that His wrath was kindled against them.6The sons of Noach [Noah] went astray therein, and their families were cut off therein.7Avraham [Abraham] walked not therein, and he was recorded a friend of El, because he kept the mitzvot of El and chose not the pleasure of his own spirit. And he delivered them to Yitzchak [Isaac] and to Ya'akov [Jacob], and they kept them, and were recorded as friends of El and members of the beriyt forever.8The sons of Ya'akov went astray through them, and were punished according to their error.9And their sons in Mitzrayim [Egypt] walked in the stubbornness of their heart, taking counsel against the mitzvot of El, and doing every man that which was right in his own eyes.10And they ate blood; and their males were cut off in the wilderness. And He said to them in Kadesh: Go up and possess the land; but they hardened their spirit,11and hearkened not to the voice of their Maker, the mitzvot of their teacher, but murmured in their tents; and the anger of El was kindled against their congregation.12And their sons perished thereby, and their kings were cut off thereby, and their mighty men perished thereby, and their land was made desolate thereby.13Through it the first members of the beriyt became guilty and were delivered to the sword, because they forsook the beriyt of El and chose their own pleasure, and went about after the stubbornness of their heart, doing every man his own pleasure.
Brit Damesek (Damascus Document)—Chapter 4
The Faithful Remnant, the Sure House, and the Bnei Tzadok
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1But with them that held fast to the mitzvot of El, who were left over of them, El established His beriyt with Yisra'el forever, revealing to them the hidden things concerning which all Yisra'el had erred:2His holy Shabbatot [Sabbaths] and His glorious mo'adim [appointed times; festivals], His righteous testimonies and His true ways, and the requirements of His good pleasure, which if a man do he shall live thereby. He laid them open before them; and they digged a be'er [a well (interpreted as the Torah)] of many waters, and he that despises them shall not live.3But they had wallowed in the transgression of man and in ways of uncleanness, and they said, For this is ours. But El, in His wonderful mysteries, forgave their iniquity and pardoned their transgression;4and He built them a bayit ne'eman [a sure (faithful) house] in Yisra'el, the like of which never stood from aforetime until now.5They that hold fast to it are destined for eternal life, and all the kavod [glory; honor] of Adam shall be theirs.6As El established it for them by the hand of Yechezkel [Ezekiel] the prophet, saying: The Kohanim [the priests] and the Levi'im [the Levites] and the Bnei Tzadok [the Sons of Zadok], that kept the charge of My Mikdash when the children of Yisra'el went astray from Me — they shall bring near unto Me fat and blood.7The Kohanim are the penitents of Yisra'el who go forth out of the land of Yehudah [Judah]; and the Levi'im are they that joined them.8And the Bnei Tzadok are the elect of Yisra'el, those called by name, that shall stand in the latter days.9Behold the exact statement of their names according to their generations, and the period of their office, and the number of their afflictions, and the years of their sojournings, and the exact statement of their deeds.10These are the holy ones of the first, whom El pardoned, who justified the righteous and condemned the wicked; and all who come after them are to do according to the interpretation of the Torah [the Law (Instruction)] wherein the first were instructed, until the completion of the period of these years.
Brit Damesek (Damascus Document)—Chapter 5
The Loosing of Beliya'al and His Three Nets
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1During all those years shall Beliya'al [Belial (the adversary; worthlessness)] be let loose against Yisra'el, as El spoke by the hand of Yeshayahu [Isaiah] the prophet, the son of Amotz, saying: Fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the land.2The interpretation thereof: they are the three nets of Beliya'al, concerning which Levi [Levi] the son of Ya'akov spoke, by which he caught Yisra'el and set their faces toward three kinds of righteousness.3The first is zenut [fornication; sexual immorality]; the second is hon [wealth; riches]; the third is the defiling of the Mikdash. He that escapes from the one is caught by the other, and he that escapes from that is caught by this.4The builders of the wall, who walk after Tzav [“the Precept/Spouter” — a wordplay naming the false preacher] — Tzav being a Matif [a preacher; a spouter (of lies)], of whom He said, They shall surely preach — are caught in two: in zenut, by taking two wives in their lifetime, whereas the foundation of creation is, Male and female created He them;5and those that went into the tevah [the ark (of Noach)] went in two and two into the tevah. And concerning the nasi [prince; ruler] it is written: He shall not multiply wives to himself.6But David read not in the sealed book of the Torah, which was in the Aron [the Ark (of the Covenant)]; for it was not opened in Yisra'el from the day of the death of El'azar [Eleazar] and Yehoshua [Joshua] and the elders — for they worshipped the Ashtoret [Ashtoreth (a pagan goddess)] — and that which was revealed was hidden until Tzadok [Zadok] arose. And the works of David were accepted, save the blood of Uriyah [Uriah]; and El forgave him for them.7They also pollute the Mikdash, in that they separate not according to the Torah, but lie with her that sees the blood of her issue; and they marry each man the daughter of his brother and the daughter of his sister.8But Moshe [Moses] said: You shall not approach your mother's sister; she is your mother's near kin. And the law of forbidden intercourse is written for males, but applies equally to females; so if the brother's daughter uncovers the nakedness of the brother of her father, whereas she is his near kin.
Brit Damesek (Damascus Document)—Chapter 6
The Blasphemers, the Two Spirits, and the Be'er That Is the Torah
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1They also pollute their holy spirit, and with a tongue of blasphemies they have opened the mouth against the statutes of the beriyt of El, saying, They are not established; and they speak abomination concerning them.2They are all kindlers of fire and setters aflame of firebrands; their webs are spiders' webs, and their eggs are the eggs of vipers. He that draws near to them shall not be held innocent;3the more he does it, the more shall he be held guilty, unless he was forced. For aforetime El visited their works, and His anger was kindled against their deeds; for it is a people of no understanding — a nation void of counsel, forasmuch as there is no understanding in them.4For aforetime arose Moshe and Aharon by the hand of the Sar Orim [the Prince of Lights (the angelic prince of light)]; and Beliya'al raised up Yannes [Yannes (Jannes) and his brother — the magicians who withstood Moshe] and his brother in his cunning, when he sought to do evil to Yisra'el the first time.5And at the epoch of the desolation of the land there arose those that removed the landmark and led Yisra'el astray; and the land became desolate, because they spoke rebellion against the mitzvot of El given through Moshe, and also through His holy Meshichim [anointed ones (prophets); His anointed], and they prophesied falsehood to turn away Yisra'el from following El.6But El remembered the beriyt of the forefathers; and He raised up from Aharon men of understanding, and from Yisra'el wise men, and He made them to hear. And they digged the be'er — the well which the princes digged, which the nobles of the people delved by the order of the Mehokek [the Lawgiver (the Interpreter of the Torah)].7The be'er is the Torah, and they that digged it are the penitents of Yisra'el, who go forth out of the land of Yehudah and sojourn in Eretz Dammesek [the land of Damascus],8all of whom El called princes; for they sought Him, and their glory was not turned back in the mouth of one of them.9And the Mehokek is he who studies the Torah, concerning whom Yeshayahu said, He brings forth an instrument for his work.10And the nobles of the people are those who come to dig the be'er by the precepts which the Mehokek ordained, that they should walk in them throughout the full epoch of wickedness; and save them they shall obtain nothing, until the arising of the Yoreh HaTzedek [the Teacher of Righteousness (who arises at the end of days)] in the acharit ha-yamim [the latter days; the end of days].
Brit Damesek (Damascus Document)—Chapter 7
The Reward of the Faithful, the Sword of Judgment, and the Star and the Sceptre
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1But all who hold fast to these ordinances, to go out and to come in according to the Torah, and who hearken to the voice of the teacher, and confess before El, saying: We have done wickedly, both we and our fathers, in that we walked contrary to the statutes of the beriyt; righteous and true are Your judgments against us —2who lift not up their hand against His holy statutes and His righteous judgments and His true testimonies, and who are instructed in the former judgments wherewith the men of the community were judged —3who give ear to the voice of the Moreh Tzedek, and reject not the statutes of righteousness when they hear them: these shall rejoice and their hearts shall be strong, and they shall prevail over all the sons of the world.4And El will pardon them, and they shall see His yeshuah [salvation; deliverance], because they took refuge in His holy name.5But all who despise these things shall be requited with the reward of the wicked, when El visits the land — when there comes the word that is written by the hand of Zecharyah [Zechariah] the prophet: Awake, O sword, against My shepherd, and against the man that is My fellow, says Yahuah יהוה [the Name of the Most High (the Tetragrammaton, YHWH)] Tzeva'ot [Hosts; armies]; smite the shepherd, that the sheep may be scattered, and I will turn My hand upon the little ones.6They that give heed unto Him are the poor of the flock: these shall escape in the epoch of the visitation; but they that remain shall be delivered up to the sword, when the Mashiach of Aharon and Yisra'el shall come —7as it was in the epoch of the first visitation, concerning which He spoke by the hand of Yechezkel: to set a mark upon the foreheads of them that sigh and that cry; but the rest were delivered up to the sword that executes the vengeance of the beriyt.8So shall it be for all who entered His beriyt but held not fast to these statutes: they shall be visited for destruction by the hand of Beliya'al. That is the day on which El shall make a visitation.9When the two houses of Yisra'el separated — Ephrayim [Ephraim (the northern kingdom)] departing from Yehudah — all who turned back were delivered to the sword; but they that held fast escaped to the land of the north; as He said: I will cause to go into captivity the Sikkuth [Sikkuth (Sakkuth) — read as the “tabernacle of the king”] of your king and the Kiyyun [Kiyyun (Chiun) — an idolatrous image] of your images, from My tent unto Dammesek [Damascus].10The books of the Torah are the Sukkat HaMelekh [the tabernacle (booth) of the king], as He said: I will raise up the fallen Sukkah [a booth; tabernacle] of David. The king is the Qahal [the assembly; congregation]; and the star is the Doresh HaTorah [the Interpreter (Seeker) of the Torah] who came to Dammesek, as it is written: A star has stepped forth out of Ya'akov, and a sceptre has risen out of Yisra'el.11The sceptre is the Nasi kol HaEdah [the Prince of all the Congregation]; and at his arising he shall break down all the sons of tumult.
Brit Damesek (Damascus Document)—Chapter 8
The Beriyt Chadashah in Eretz Dammesek, and the Mashiach of Aharon and Yisra'el
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1But all the men who entered into the Beriyt Chadashah [the New Covenant] in Eretz Dammesek, and turned back and dealt treacherously and departed from the well of living waters, shall not be reckoned in the assembly of the people, and in its register they shall not be written —2from the day of the gathering in of the Moreh HaYachid [the Unique Teacher (the one and only Teacher)] until the arising of the Mashiach of Aharon and of Yisra'el.3And so is the judgment upon everyone who entered the congregation of the men of perfect holiness and was slack in the fulfilling of the statutes of the upright: he is the man that is melted in the midst of the furnace.4When his deeds are made manifest, he shall be sent away from the congregation, as one whose lot has not fallen among the taught of El. According to his unfaithfulness shall the men of knowledge reprove him, until the day when he shall return to stand in the station of the men of perfect holiness —5when the Mashiach of Aharon and of Yisra'el shall arise, and their iniquity shall be atoned for. But upon the removers of the landmark shall the wrath be poured out.6This is the word which Yeshayahu the son of Amotz spoke, saying: There shall come upon you, and upon your people, and upon your father's house, days such as have not come since the day that Ephrayim departed from Yehudah.7All these things the builders of the wall understood not, and the daubers with untempered mortar; for one that raises wind and preaches lies has preached to them — he against whose congregation the wrath of El is kindled.8And that which Moshe said: Not for your righteousness, nor for the uprightness of your heart, do you go in to possess these nations, but because He loved your fathers, and because He would keep the oath — such is the judgment for the penitents of Yisra'el who turned aside from the way of the people.9Because El loved the first who testified after Him, so will He love those who come after them; for theirs is the beriyt of the fathers.10But El hates and abhors the builders of the wall, and His anger is kindled against them and against all who follow them.
Brit Damesek (Damascus Document)—Chapter 9
The Ordinances of Reproof, Witnesses, Oaths, and Restitution
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1Every man who devotes a fellow man to destruction by the statutes of the Goyim [the nations; the Gentiles] shall himself be put to death.2And as to that which He said: You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people — every man of those who have entered the beriyt who brings a charge against his neighbour, and reproves him not before witnesses,3or brings it in the heat of his anger, or tells it to his elders to bring him into contempt, he is one that avenges himself and bears a grudge. Yet it is written only: He avenges Himself on His adversaries, and bears a grudge against His enemies.4If he held his peace concerning him from day to day, and then in the heat of his anger spoke against him in a matter involving death, he has testified against himself; forasmuch as he fulfilled not the mitzvah [a commandment] of El, who said unto him: You shall surely reprove your neighbour, and not bear sin because of him.5Concerning the oath: as to that which He said, You shall not do justice for yourself with your own hand — whoever compels another to swear in the open field, and not before the judges or at their command, has done justice for himself with his own hand.6And everything that is lost, and it is not known who stole it from the property of the camp wherein it was stolen — its owner shall pronounce the shevuat ha-alah [the oath of the ban (a curse-oath)]; and he who hears it, if he knows and tells it not, is guilty.7In the case of every restitution of that which has no owner, he that makes restitution shall confess to the Kohen [the priest], and it shall be his, apart from the ram of the asham [the guilt-offering].8And so every lost thing that is found and has no owner shall be for the Kohanim; for he that found it knows not the rule concerning it. And if no owners be found for it, the Kohanim shall keep it.
Brit Damesek (Damascus Document)—Chapter 10
The Judges of the Congregation, Purification, and the Shabbat Begun
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1And this is the rule for the judges of the congregation: up to ten men chosen from the congregation for the time — four of the tribe of Levi and Aharon, and six of Yisra'el — learned in the Sefer HeHagu [the Book of Hagu (Meditation) — the sect's book of study] and in the fundamentals of the beriyt, from twenty-five years old to sixty years old.2And let none be appointed from sixty years old and upward to judge the congregation; for through the trespass of man his days were shortened, and in the heat of El's anger against the inhabitants of the earth He commanded to remove their knowledge before they completed their days.3Concerning purification with water: let no man wash in water that is filthy, or less than the quantity that covers a man.4Let no man purify a vessel in it; and every pool in a rock in which there is not the quantity that covers a man, which an unclean person has touched — its water is unclean, like the water of a vessel.5Concerning the Shabbat [the Sabbath], to observe it according to its ordinance: let no man do work on the sixth day from the time when the orb of the sun is distant from the gate by the measure of its own fulness; for this is that which He said: Observe the Shabbat day, to keep it holy.6And on the Shabbat day let no man utter a word of folly or vanity; let him not lend aught to his neighbour; let none decide concerning money or gain; let him not speak of matters of work and labour to be done on the morrow.7Let no man walk in the field to do the work of his business on the Shabbat; and let him not walk outside his city more than a thousand cubits.
Brit Damesek (Damascus Document)—Chapter 11
The Full Body of Shabbat Law
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1Let no man eat on the Shabbat day except that which is prepared, or that which perishes in the field.2Let him not eat or drink unless he be in the camp; and if he was on the way and went down to wash, let him drink where he stands, but let him not draw water into any vessel.3Let him not send a stranger to do his business on the Shabbat day.4Let no man put on garments that are filthy, or that were brought by a Goy, unless they be washed with water or rubbed with frankincense.5Let no man of his own will fast on the Shabbat. Let no man go after his beast to pasture it outside his city more than two thousand cubits.6Let him not lift his hand to smite it with the fist; and if it be stubborn, let him not bring it out of his house.7Let no man carry anything from the house to the outside, or from the outside into the house; and if he be in the vestibule, let him carry nothing out of it, nor bring anything into it.8Let him not open a sealed vessel on the Shabbat. Let no man carry spices upon him, to go out or to come in on the Shabbat. Let him not lift up in his dwelling either rock or earth.9Let not the nursing-father take up the sucking child, to go out or to come in on the Shabbat.10Let no man provoke his manservant or his maidservant or his hireling on the Shabbat.11Let no man help a beast in its delivery on the Shabbat day; and if it fall into a pit or a ditch, let him not raise it up on the Shabbat.12Let no man rest in a place near to the Goyim on the Shabbat. Let no man profane the Shabbat for the sake of wealth or gain.13And any living man that falls into a place of water, or into a place from which he cannot rise, let no man bring him up with a ladder or a cord or any instrument.14Let no man offer anything upon the mizbe'ach [the altar] on the Shabbat, save the olah [the burnt-offering] of the Shabbat; for so it is written: Except your Shabbatot.15Let no man send to the mizbe'ach olah, or minchah [the meal-offering], or frankincense, or wood, by the hand of a man defiled with any of the uncleannesses, so suffering him to defile the mizbe'ach; for it is written: The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination, but the prayer of the upright is as an acceptable offering.
Brit Damesek (Damascus Document)—Chapter 12
The City of the Sanctuary, the Dietary Laws, and the Charge to the Maskil
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1Let no man lie with a woman in the Ir HaMikdash [the city of the Sanctuary (Yerushalayim)], to defile the Ir HaMikdash with their uncleanness.2Every man over whom the ruchot Beliya'al [the spirits of Belial] gain dominion, so that he speaks apostasy, shall be judged according to the judgment of the ov [a necromancer] and the yidde'oni [a wizard; a familiar spirit].3But every man who goes astray, to profane the Shabbat and the mo'adim, shall not be put to death; for it is committed unto men to keep him in ward; and if he be healed of it, they shall keep him for seven years, and afterward he shall come into the congregation.4Let no man stretch out his hand to shed the blood of a man of the Goyim for the sake of riches and gain.5Neither let him take aught of their wealth, that they blaspheme not, save by the counsel of the company of Yisra'el.6Let no man sell clean beasts or birds to the Goyim, lest they sacrifice them; and from his threshing-floor and from his winepress let him not sell them aught.7And his manservant and his maidservant let him not sell unto them, forasmuch as they entered with him into the beriyt Avraham [the covenant of Avraham (circumcision)].8Let no man make himself abominable with any living creature or creeping thing, by eating of them, from the larvae of bees to every living thing that creeps in water.9And let not the fishes be eaten, unless they have been ripped open alive and their blood poured out. And all the locusts after their kind shall be put into fire or into water while yet alive; for this is the nature of their creation.10And all wood and stones and dust that are defiled by the uncleanness of a man — according to their uncleanness shall he that touches them become unclean.11This is the settlement of the dwelling-places of the cities of Yisra'el; and according to these ordinances shall the seed of Yisra'el separate between the unclean and the clean, and make known the difference between the holy and the profane.12And these are the statutes for the Maskil [the Instructor; the wise leader], to walk in them with all the living according to the ordinance of every season; and according to this statute shall the seed of Yisra'el walk, and they shall not be cursed.
Brit Damesek (Damascus Document)—Chapter 13
The Order of the Camps and the Office of the Mevaqqer
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1And this is the rule for the camps: they that walk in these ordinances, in the epoch of wickedness until the arising of the Mashiach of Aharon and Yisra'el, shall be ten men as a least number, by thousands and hundreds and fifties and tens.2And in a place of ten let there not be lacking a Kohen learned in the Sefer HeHagu; by his word shall they all be ruled.3But if he be not versed in all these matters, and one of the Levi'im is versed in them, then it shall fall to the lot of the Levi that all the members of the camp go out and come in by his order.4But if there be a case of the law of tzara'at [leprosy (a skin affliction)] in a man, the Kohen shall come and stand in the camp, and the Mevaqqer [the Overseer (Censor) of the community] shall instruct him in the interpretation of the Torah; even if the Kohen be unlearned, yet it is he that shall shut the man up, for theirs is the judgment.5And this is the rule of the Mevaqqer of the camp: he shall instruct the Rabbim [the Many (the full membership of the community)] in the works of El, and make them understand His wondrous mighty acts, and recount before them the things of the world of old, in their order.6And he shall have compassion upon them as a father upon his children, and bring back every one of them that is driven away, as a shepherd his flock.7He shall loose all the bonds that bind them, that there be none oppressed or crushed in his congregation.8And everyone that is added to his congregation, let him muster him as to his deeds, his understanding, his strength, his might, and his wealth; and they shall inscribe him in his place according to his lot in the goral ha-Emet [the lot of Truth (the portion of the righteous)].9Let no man of the members of the camp have authority to bring any man into the congregation, except by the word of the Mevaqqer of the camp.10And let none who have entered the beriyt of El buy or sell to the Bnei HaShachat [the sons of the Pit (of destruction)], save from hand to hand.11And let no man conclude a matter of buying or selling without making it known to the Mevaqqer who is in the camp; and let him do it with counsel, that they err not.12And so concerning everyone that takes a wife, let it be with counsel; and so shall he give guidance to everyone that gives his daughter in marriage; and let the Mevaqqer instruct him.
Brit Damesek (Damascus Document)—Chapter 14
The Muster of the Camps and the Fund for the Poor
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1And this is the rule for the settlement of all the camps: they shall all be mustered by their names — the Kohanim first, the Levi'im second, the children of Yisra'el third, and the ger [a proselyte; a sojourner who has joined Yisra'el] fourth; and they shall be inscribed by their names, one after another.2And so shall they sit, and so shall they ask concerning everything. And the Kohen that musters the Rabbim shall be from thirty years old to sixty years old, learned in the Sefer HeHagu and in all the ordinances of the Torah, to speak them according to their rule.3And the Mevaqqer who is over all the camps shall be from thirty years old to fifty years old, one that has mastery in every secret of men and in every tongue. By his word shall those that enter the congregation enter, each in his turn.4And every matter which any man has to speak, let him speak unto the Mevaqqer, whatever the dispute or the judgment be.5And this is the rule of the Rabbim, to provide for all their needs: the wages of two days every month at the least; and they shall put it into the hand of the Mevaqqer and the judges.6Of it they shall give to the fatherless, and with it they shall support the poor and the needy, and the aged man that is dying, and the wanderer, and him that is taken captive by a foreign people, and the virgin that has no near kinsman, and the youth for whom no man cares.7All the service of the company is theirs; and the house of the company shall not be cut off from their hand.8And this is the exposition of the ordinances wherein they shall walk, in the appointed time of wickedness, until there arise the Mashiach of Aharon and of Yisra'el, and he shall make atonement for their iniquity.9Whoever lies knowingly concerning wealth, they shall separate him from the purity of the Rabbim for one year, and he shall be punished.10And whoever murmurs against the fathers shall be sent away from the congregation and shall not return; but if he murmur against the mothers, he shall be punished ten days.
Brit Damesek (Damascus Document)—Chapter 15
The Oath of Entry into the Beriyt
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1Let no man swear by Aleph-Lamed — that is, by Elohim [God (the Mighty One)] — nor by Aleph-Daleth — that is, by Adonai [the Sovereign Lord (my Lord)] — but by the oath of the curses of the beriyt.2And the Torah of Moshe let him not mention in his oath; for if he swear and transgress, he profanes HaShem [the Name (a reverential circumlocution for the Tetragrammaton)]. But if by the curses of the beriyt he swear before the judges, and transgress, he is guilty; yet if he confess and make restitution, he shall not bear the sin, and he shall not die.3Whoever enters into the beriyt — for all Yisra'el, a statute forever — their sons who reach the age to pass among them that are mustered shall bind themselves by the oath of the beriyt.4And so is the judgment throughout all the epoch of wickedness, for everyone who turns from his corrupt way. In the day that he speaks to the Mevaqqer of the Rabbim, they shall muster him with the oath of the beriyt which Moshe made with Yisra'el: the beriyt to return unto the Torah of Moshe with the whole heart and with the whole soul.5But let no man make known the statutes to him until he stand before the Mevaqqer, lest he prove a simpleton when he examines him. And when he has imposed upon him the oath to return unto the Torah of Moshe with all his heart and all his soul, they are clear of guilt if he transgress.6And everything that is revealed of the Torah to the multitude of the camp, in which he errs, let the Mevaqqer recount it to him and give command concerning him; and let him learn it for a full year, and according to his knowledge shall he draw near.7But no man smitten with any of the uncleannesses of man shall come into the congregation: none crippled in the legs or the hands, nor lame, nor blind, nor deaf, nor dumb, nor smitten in his flesh with a blemish visible to the eye, nor a tottering old man that cannot keep himself steady in the midst of the congregation.8Let not these enter the congregation; for the holy malakhim [angels; messengers] are in the midst of it.
Brit Damesek (Damascus Document)—Chapter 16
The Book of the Divisions of the Times; Oaths and Vows
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1And concerning that which He said, That which is gone out of your lips you shall keep, to perform it — every binding oath by which a man takes upon himself to do aught of the Torah, let him not annul, even at the price of death.2And so, whatsoever a man takes upon himself, to return unto the Torah of Moshe — for upon it all is exactly determined. And the exact determination of the times of the blindness of Yisra'el unto all these things, behold, it is defined in the Sefer Machletzot HaIttim [the Book of the Divisions of the Times (the Book of Yovelim / Jubilees)], in their Yovelim [Jubilees (49-year cycles)] and in their Shavu'ot [Weeks (seven-year cycles)].3And on the day that a man takes upon himself to return unto the Torah of Moshe, the Malakh HaMastemah [the Angel of Mastema (of Enmity; the accusing angel)] shall turn aside from after him, if he perform his words; therefore was Avraham circumcised on the day that he obtained knowledge.4But whatsoever would make a man break the mitzvah, let him not fulfil it, even at the price of death.5Concerning the oath of a woman: as to that which He said, It is for her husband to annul her oath — let no man annul an oath the nature of which he knows not, whether it be to fulfil the mitzvah or to annul it.6If it be to transgress the beriyt, let him annul it and not confirm it; and so also is the judgment for her father.7Concerning the law of freewill offerings: let no man vow to the mizbe'ach aught unlawfully acquired; neither let the Kohanim take from Yisra'el aught unlawfully acquired.8And let no man consecrate the food of his household unto El; for it is that which He said, They hunt each man his brother with a net.
Brit Damesek (Damascus Document)—Chapter 17
The Penal Code of the Rabbim
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1And these are the ordinances of the Rabbim, to requite all who are mustered: whoever bears a grudge against his neighbour, which is not according to the judgment, shall be punished six months; and whoever takes vengeance for himself in any matter, likewise.2Whoever utters with his mouth a foolish word shall be punished three months; and for interrupting the words of his neighbour, ten days.3And whoever lies down and sleeps in the session of the Rabbim shall be punished thirty days; and so for him that departs from the session of the Rabbim without cause, up to three times in one session, he shall be punished ten days; but if he depart again, he shall be punished thirty days.4And whoever walks before his neighbour naked, whether in a house or in the field, shall be punished thirty days; and whoever guffaws foolishly, making his voice heard, shall be punished thirty days.5And whoever brings out his left hand to gesticulate with it shall be punished ten days; and whoever goes about slandering his neighbour shall be separated from the purity of the Rabbim for one year, and shall be punished.6But whoever slanders the Rabbim shall be sent away from among them, and shall not return; and whoever murmurs against the ordinance of the Rabbim shall be sent away, and shall not return.7And a Sefer HaZikaron was written before Him for them that fear El and that think upon His Name, until yeshuah and tzedakah be revealed to them that fear El; and they shall see, and shall rejoice, and their heart shall be glad in the everlasting salvation of El. Here ends the Sefer Beriyt Dammesek — Fragments of a Zadokite Work. Barukh El, Elohei Yisra'el — Blessed be El, the God of Yisra'el.