Digital Dead Sea Scrolls at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem - The War Scroll
And I stood upon the sand of the sea,
And saw a beast rise up out of the sea,
And from his nostrils wafted foul and loathsome air,
And where he rose from the sea, the clear waters turned to slime,
And his body was covered with black and steaming stone.
And the woman clothed with the sun
Reached out her arms to the beast,
And the beast drew near and embraced her.
And lo, her skin of pearl withered beneath his foul breath,
And her back was broken by his arms of crushing rock,
And with tears of blood she sank into the pool of slime.
And from the mouth of this beast there poured armies of men,
Brandishing swords and fighting, one with the other.
And they fought with a terrible anger,
And they cut off their own limbs and clawed out their own eyes,
Until they fell into the pit of slime,
Screaming in agony and pain.
And I stepped to the edge of the pool and reached down my hand,
And I could see the swirling maelstrom of blood,
And the men therein, trapped like flies in a web.
And I spoke in a loud voice, saying,
"Brothers, drop your swords and take hold of my hand.
Leave off this defiling and desecration
Of she who has given thee birth,
And he who has given thee thy inheritance.
For you the days of buying and selling are over
And over, too, the days of hunting and killing.
For he that leadeth into captivity will go into captivity,
And he who kills with the sword must be killed by the sword.
And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn
Because no man buys their merchandise any more.
The merchants of gold, and silver, and precious stones,
And of pearls, and fine linen, and purple dyes, and silk, and scarlet,
And marble, and beasts, and sheep, and horses,
And chariots, and slaves, and souls of men,
All these things you cannot buy and sell,
For all is buried in a sea of blood
Because you have turned your back on your father and mother,
And worshipped the beast who would build a paradise of stone.
Drop thy swords, my brothers, and take hold of my hand!"
