Chapter 2
The Lord went abroad over the earth, calling: Come to me, O man! Behold your Lord has returned!
But man did not hear the voice of the Lord; for, by man’s indulgence, the spirit of man was covered up in his own flesh.
To the I’hins, the Lord sent his loo’is and they raised up heirs to the Lord; by controlling the parentage of the unborn, they brought into the world a new race of men, of the same seed and blood as of old, and these heard the voice of the Lord.
And the Lord said to man: Because you did not keep my commandments, you have brought affliction upon yourself and your people, to the farthest ends of the world.
Now I will raise you up once more, and deliver the tribes of men from darkness into light.
And the Lord delivered man into wisdom, peace and virtue; and the earth became like a garden of sweet-smelling flowers and luxurious fruit.
The Lord said: What do you say, O man? Shall you still require a keeper?
And man said: Behold, I am strong and wise. You can go away from the earth. I understand your commandments.
The Lord inquired: Do you know the meaning of: Love your Creator? And man said: Yes, Lord; and to love my neighbor as myself; and to do good to others with all my wisdom and strength. Yes, I have the All Highest Light. I am wiser than the ancients. Behold, I want no Lord, no God; I am the highest product of all the universe.
The Lord said: I will try you, O man; I will go away for a season.
So the Lord departed once more. And man had nothing to look up to, so he looked at himself and became vainglorious. And the tribes of men aspired to overcome one another; war and destruction followed.
Man forgot his Creator; he said: No Eye sees me, no Ear hears me. And he neglected to guard himself against the serpent (corporeality; self); and the serpent said to him: Partake of all things, for they are yours.
And man heeded, and, lo and behold, the race of man descended into utter darkness. And man did not distinguish his sister or mother; and woman did not distinguish her brother or father.
And God saw the wickedness of man, and he called out, saying: Hear my voice, O man! Hear the voice of the Lord!
But because of man’s darkness he could not hear the voice of God, his Lord.
And the Lord sent his angels down to man, so they could appeal to man’s understanding.
But the angels also loved darkness, and did not strive to lift man out of darkness. And the Lord had no more influence among mortals, and he departed away from the earth. And on the earth, man became like a harvest that is blighted and rotten because of its rankness. END OF THE SECOND BOOK OF LORDS Synopsis of Sixteen Cycles Being forty-eight thousand years (i.e., two gadols); covering a period from the creation of man down to the submersion of the continent of Pan, called by the ancients, the flood, or deluge, which was twenty-four thousand years B.K. (i.e., one gadol Before Kosmon), selected from the records in the libraries of heaven.