In the name of the Lord , Father, whose existence is since the beginning of

the universe and whose lordship shall not ever terminate, high in his height ,

glorious is his glory, light and splendor of the Son, brightness and magnificence

of the Holy Spirit, like his prophets said: We see the light in his height and they

didn’t say: Where are the lights in his height?

And in the name of the Lord, Son, who is not posterior to his father and

does not precede him, who created Adam, so that the word of the Father and of

the Holy Spirit became visible in his appearance, as David, his anointed one,

said: The height of heaven is in the word of the Lord and he didn’t say His

heavens are solid with the word of the Lord.

And in the name of the Holy Spirit, who is represented in his Trinity, and

equal in his authority, who sprouted from him, but is not a brother to the father

and to the son he is not his father’s brother, but he is the spirit of the Father and

the spirit of the Son, just as the books of law proclaim, each in its own mode:

His whole might is in the breath of his mouth and they don’t say: His whole

spirit.

While I prostrate myself to his Trinity for its agreement in order to tell the

spiritual fight and mortification of Yəmrəhanna Krəstos, the soldier, Paracletus,

the spirit of righteousness, so that he opens with the lamp of wisdom the gates of

my heart.

As for those who hear the commemoration of his praise, may he make

them sit together with him in his heavenly chamber forever and ever. Amen.

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 I give precedence to praising the Lord for the sake of our Lord Jesus

Christ, who was born from the Father [and] who is without mother, and in the

last days, and from the lady of us all Mary, in order to save Adam and his

offspring. He took from her nature, flesh, blood, bones, muscles, sinews, hair

and fingernails. He made him the only one with his divinity, which is without

imperfection. In this flesh he was baptized with water by the hand of John, his

servant. But if only divinity had been baptized, the abyss would have become

aflame and it would have been impossible for John to touch him. In this flesh

also the Jewish elders seized him and pierced him with a spear and, when he

fulfilled his obligation and died, they buried him in a grave. After three days and

three nights he resurrected in his flesh and ascended to his Father and he sat on

the right hand of his parent.

And this disciple of his paths, who was called Yəmrəhanna Krəstos,

which translates as the guide of the peoples and of the faithful sect to the road of

light, he became strong enough to take shelter under His wings and obtained

whatever he desired in his intellect. May his grace watch us like a shepherd.

Amen.

Therefore listen ye to a little piece of his story, we shall not tell it falsely

and it won’t be partial, but I will narrate it just as he related it to me. And as for

you, my beloved, it is suitable for you that you wear your clothes wrap up in

your (sacerdotal) stole as prophets and apostles, while venerating the altar of his

flesh and revering him. As for him, he shall not keep away from you there where

you seek him. Amen.

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 There were three brothers in the country of Bəgwanā who were called: the

oldest Tantawdəm, the younger than him Gərwā Śəyum and the third Zān

Śəyum. When Tantawdəm was reigning, he enquired the diviners: Who will sit

on my throne after me, my son or a stranger? The diviners replied: After you

someone called Yəmrəhanna Krəstos will reign. And he enquired again: Is there

anyone in my kingdom called Yəmrəhanna Krəstos? And they replied: We

haven’t heard such a name. We don’t know where the man called Yəmrəha is.

However, when he was in his mother’s womb, the prophecy of his reign

was shouted out regarding him, for he was anointed with the ointment of the

Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb, just like John, the one who baptized the

Son.

When he was born, he opened his eyes and turned eastwards praising the

God of heaven. The light of his eyes illuminated the whole house like rays of

sunlight. All those who saw it were amazed and said: Today a baby has been

born who will be compared to Noah. Some said also: He will become a king,

while others said: No, he’ll become a priest. His mother was perplexed and said:

Bring me a good priest, who knows the Book. And when they brought [him] to

her, she said to the priest: Look, oh father, and bless him for me. When he saw

him, he said: Who am I to bless him, who is so full of light? May it rather him,

on whom there is no impurity whatsoever, bless me, a sinner. When he saw his

all members, he said: Oh, you, full of light, lead us sinners to the road of light so

that we obtain our heritage with the righteous. Amen.

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 When he was 40 days old, they took him to this priest so that he baptize

him, anoint him with chrism, bless the water and breathe on him. And he blessed

him in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. He made

him go around the altar and he offered him the flesh and blood of our Lord.

Then his mother took him and began to breastfeed him but he refused to suck

the breast because he was satiated with spiritual milk and he slept until the 9th

hour, being drunk with the spirit of wisdom and knowledge. When he woke up

he said: Blessed be the Lord, the God of Adam, Henoch, Noah and Abraham

who dwells in the highest heaven. Having said this, he sucked his mother’s milk.

It was a wonder to all those who saw and heard this thing.

His father Gərwā Śəyum told his wife: Protect this child for me, for I saw

in my dream plenty of fruit in each of his two hands and I saw him tending white

and spotted sheep in our meadow, each of the spotted ones had its own colour

(?), however the white ones were more numerous. It appeared to me that he was

the owner and wealth was prophesied for him on earth. Yet I don’t know if his

wealth is to be in heaven or on earth. She said to him: For my part, I rejoice, my

lord, for this child of ours will be for us to the profit of our soul and our flesh.

When the blessed Yəmrəhanna Krəstos grew up a little, the king

Tantawdəm heard his story, that there was his brother’s son called Yəmrəha.

He said to his official: Bring him so that I see the son of my brother. When he

saw his face which resembled a full moon and his eyes like a morning star and

his nostrils like apple and the opening of his mouth which delighted more than a

grape of wine, he said seeing him: Let him be the one to take my kingdom, verily

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[he is] my son. May the Lord, master of the mighty, bless him justly. Having said

this, he blessed him and spent with him 8 days.

When he saw him among his sons, he became jealous and said: This one

will become a king and my sons will become his troops. Satan entered his heart

and he demanded that they kill him, but the Lord guarded him. Furthermore he

enquired the diviners: Should I kill this boy? Will the kingdom pass to my son

after I kill him? They replied: Do not kill him until we investigate the compution.

And he said to them: I can’t bear it patiently when I see him, but my heart burns

with envy regarding my kingdom. And so they said to him: Send him away and

let him go to his mother so that he doesn’t know the secret of your kingdom and

grows up tending sheep and animals.

This speech pleased him and he sent him to the house of his father and he

grew up there, irrigated by the four rivers of the water of life that flow out from

under the Lord of the hosts’ throne, with which the Lord irrigates the paradise,

from where 4 corners of the world are discerned. The name of the first river is

’Efeson, the second - Gəyon, of the third - ¶egros and of the fourth - ’Efrā³əs,

which [symbolize] the four evangelists and the paradise is the church.

And thus he grew up, quiet in his speech and wise in his discourse and

prudent in his conduct, while [being] a child his heart was like a heart of an old

man. Like it was said: The beauty of the old age is not in big amount of grey

hair, the crown of the aged is their great experience, the object of boasting for

children is the understanding of the intelligence of their being a child. (?) from

the book of Salomon, the Book of Ecclesiastes, the congregation of prophets,

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plectrum of praise which is the one which repays life, our object of boasting is

Yəmrəhanna Krəstos, the pillar of faith, may his prayer protect us from the

hands of death forever and ever. Amen.

This brother of his father pondered, how to kill Yəmrəha and so he sent

messengers to bring him back saying to his mother: The king set us forth to you

saying “send me your son so that he stays with me because from the moment I

saw him my soul loves him”. She however asked them saying: Why has the king

summoned my son, tell me, my brothers! They replied: We don’t know. She

prepared a table for them and until they ate and drank she prayed to the Lord

with a fervent heart, that he save her son from the hands of a murderer. And he

revealed to her [the desire for] vengeance caused by the envy in the heart oh her

husband’s brother. And so, she hid her son from the king’s messengers and told

them: My son Yəmrəha is missing and I looked for him when I said to the

brother of my husband that my child was [there]. Because of this my heart has

been frozen for all these days, I haven’t seen him for over a week now. And now

I know that my son has perished. While saying this, she wept in front of them

and told them: It seemed to me that you came to tell me where he was.

When they saw her great weeping, the messengers of the king went away,

having seen her weeping. They arrived to the king and told him that Yəmrəha

was missing. The king said: He escaped from me, woe is me! Where shall I find

him? Now then, seek him for me everywhere, so that he doesn’t escape from you.

And he sent each of his 7 officials to all the provinces and the herald said: The

son of Gərwā Śəyum who escaped from his mother and fled from me, he, who

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knowing the evilness of his heart, shall find this wicked one and shall bring m

his head, I shall give him whatever he asks me up to the half of my kingdom.

And then the king’s troops went out to look for Yəmrəha but his mother

told him: Flee, my son, from the face of your father’s brother, like Jacob fled

from the face of Esaw and may the Lord be with you just like he was with Jacob

in the land of Laba and may he bless you just like he blessed him and his

offspring. Having said this, she took him to the bishop so that he bless him and

give him the ordination for a deacon. And he blessed him and ordained him as a

deacon and sent him, and so he went away from the king’s court and lived

wandering about from town to town, and from wilderness to wilderness,

protected by Paracletus in everything, just as he protected the 600.000 mighty of

Israel with those who were with them for 40 years, while they didn’t seed nor

harvest, heavenly bread [being] their food. As the prophet said: Mankind ate the

bread of his angels and their clothes wore out until they came to the land of

their heritage. But him he didn’t lead like them and wasn’t angry with him as he

was with them, to the point of letting him die in the desert but rather to bring

him where he wanted (?).

Afterwards he took a wife called Qəddəst #əzbā from the lineage of

Levites according to what the Lord told Yəmrəha: Take yourself a wife. And the

blessed Yəmrəha said: Why should I take a wife, my Lord? Since I am a traveler

in a stranger land, what reason do I have to take a wife? Strengthen me rather,

my Lord, so that I may please you. And then Lord of the mighty told him: Is it a

sin to take a wife? Oh my beloved, haven’t you heard how Adam was created

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alone and thereafter we said: “ Let us create him a helper who will help him,

because a human being cannot live on his own”. And so I took one bone from

his side and I created Eve and because of this a man leaves his father and his

mother and follows his wife and two of them become one flesh, what the Lord

joined together, a man shouldn’t separate and the apostles said “ As for us, we

say that marriage is pure and there’s nothing impure in procreation, because the

Lord created Adam and Eve, so that people multiply. [Therefore] the blessed

Yəmrəha lived with his wife in constant love because their union came from the

Lord.

Afterwards, he was ordained a priest. He remained in the Lord’s service,

adorning the rites of the Church, because he was its pillar and its column. As

Salomon said: Wisdom has built itself home and it has erected 7 pillars. She

offered herself as sacrifice and has summoned its own children. This love that is

spoken of [here] is [the one] by the Son of the Lord. As Sirak, son of ’Al‘āzār

from Jerusalem said: Wisdom says: “I came from the mouth of the Highest and

like a cloud I covered the earth. I built a place on the column of clouds and I

looked for somewhere to rest. The creator of everything told me ‘ Reside near

Jacob and receive Israel as [your] inheritance’ My dominion over which I was

given authority is Jerusalem and my house is the Church, while its sacrifice is

flesh and blood of the only Son and its children are the sons of the baptism.”

The blessed Yəmrəhann Krəstos was one of those 7 pillars, he who was

powerful and strong, and elevated it, because he grew on its two breasts and he

didn’t turn away from the rites of the One, who gave birth to him and from its

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spouse, that is Christ. As David says: In return for your fathers children have

been born to you, and you shall place them as commanders of the whole earth.

Its fathers were the prophets, progeny of the prophets and son of the apostles

was Yəmrəhanna Krəstos, who didn’t turn away from their rite and never ceased

to follow their steps. Just like Rosā Dāwd said: Son doesn’t abandon the work of

his father.

Verily, the blessed Yəmrəha, preacher of the Gospel for penance, fulfilled

all the ways of the apostles, while exiled from country to country saying: The

kingdom of Heaven is near and its coming is approaching! Thus shouted he on

top of roofs and in halls and he endured a lot of disgrace, and when they insulted

him, he didn’t insult and when they hurt him he didn’t take vengeance, but

rather prolonged his patience like Job, just like the apostle said: You have as

models for bearing your affliction the prophets, who spoke by the order of the

Lord. Behold, we declare as blessed those who endured by the order of the Lord.

Haven’t you seen that great is his mercy and he is compassionate? In everything

that happened to him, Job used to say: The Lord gave, the Lord took. May it be

as the Lord wanted. May the name of the Lord be blessed forever. We took good

thing from the Lord, shouldn’t we therefore take the bad ones as well? Job didn’t

go astray in any of his tribulations so after the plague the Lord said to Job from a

cloud: Put a girdle around your hips and I shall ask you and you shall answer

me. He spoke to him a lot and after the calamities his possessions were doubled

for him and He gave him twice as many sons.

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 Also the blessed Yəmrəhanna Krəstos prolonged his endurance and stayed

in affliction for many years. And [yet] he wasn’t weary in his souls and he didn’t

desire for his flesh, but rather he lived preaching the Gospel of the grace of our

Saviour, bearing the bed of his pain on his shoulders. He baptized many pagans

and he made them worthy of receiving the flesh and blood of our Christ.

While he existed in this way, one day when he was performing Kidān in

the Lord’s temple, when he said: Lord, father, who gives the light! [Then] the

Lord said to the blessed Yəmrəha: Come, I am the Lord, your master, ask me

whatever you wish and I shall do it for you. And so Yəmrəha told the Lord: Oh

Lord, why have you forgotten me? You rejected me for so many days, when I was

suffering in misery. The Lord replied: I haven’t forgotten you, my beloved, why

would I forget you? Does a mother forget her child to whom she gave birth from

her womb? Even is she should forget, I haven’t forgotten you. Does a bride

forget her adornments of precious stones and silver, her bracelets and

necklaces? Even if she should forget, I haven’t forgotten you, whom I sanctified

in the womb of your mother, oh my chosen one. Now then, go back to your

country and I shall be at every place that you go to. No misery whatsoever shall

happen to you, but rather I have stretched my right hand over your back so as to

give you the kingdom so that you reign over my people, breaking my body.

Having said this, our saviour anointed him with the ointment of the

kingdom with His holy hands and named him with his imperial name saying:

May the name of your reign be David, for David is my confessor according to

my heart, because you sing just like he chanted and I take delight in the song of

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your voice. Oh my chosen one, do not cease to call out my name day and night

and [all the] nights, and I shall not remove from you my grace and my

compassion. And may my favour be with you forever and ever. Amen.

Yəmrəha said to our saviour: Oh my Lord, how could I reign over your

people? I am deficient in intelligence and inferior to all people. Consider

carefully whom do you make reign over your people, for you my Lord know the

littleness of my heart. Could I ever be in charge of the affairs of the kingdom or

could I declare the laws right? And the Lord said to him: There’s no victory in

battle for warriors and there’s no race for the swift, there’s no wealth for

plunderers and there won’t be food for the learned nor kingdom nor governship

for the wise - [if it is] without my spirit. Now then, I shall make you intelligent

and give you wisdom. Don’t worry about what is just, don’t you know who gave

to the mankind mouth and wisdom, and who made them dumb and deaf and who

made a blind man see? Wasn’t it me, the Lord? As for you, I shall enlighten your

heart with a torch of wisdom, just as I gave [it] to Salomon when he asked me,

like you, in regard to establishing justice. Whatever he asked me I would give

him, and what he didn’t ask me, I would not hinder it. There’s no one who ruled

on earth more glorious than him, neither before him nor after him, neither in

terms of wisdom nor wealth. And to you I say: there’s never been anyone other

reigning like you, neither before you nor after you, since you are king – priest

and your priesthood is not earthly but heavenly. I am the one who gives grace to

everyone according to their share and to what is appropriate for them. To you I

shall give a great grace and I shall not rob you [of it]. Now then, go back to

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your country no calamity shall happen to you but instead I shall glorify on earth

and in heaven I shall make you sit on my right – hand side, for the exit of soul

from your father’s brother is close. After that you will rule over my people.

Many will seek to reign but I won’t admit them, for I’ve prepared you to give you

[the power]. I shall fight your enemies and I shall bless those who bless you and

I shall curse those who curse you. May my peace be with you.Amen. And

behold, I ordered Rufā’el, my angel, to protect you day and night from the

enmity of the hostile, so that no evil thing has authority over you. I shall not

take my grace away from you and I shall send you the dew of my mercy to your

palace. I shall fight your enemies and subdue your adversaries that surround

you and I shall constantly be with you.

Thus spoke our Lord to the blessed Yəmrəha from him He ascended to

Heaven in great splendor. Yəmrəha bowed to his Lord, having seen his

ascension, he prostrated himself and he blessed Him saying: Blessed are you

who dwell in the lofty [places] yet see the humble, you who didn’t disdain my

wandering and my poverty.

And those priests and deacons who were in the church said when he kept

silent while performing the service: The priest Yəmrəha got tired or fell asleep?

When they entered and saw him, they told him: Speak [you who are] the

strength to everyone and overseer of every soul. And he spoke until the end.

Afterwards he said: Blessed be the Lord, my God, who didn’t reject my

prayer and didn’t take His grace away from me, who didn’t overlook my

12
wandering. And he said also: Blessed is the man whom the Lord doesn’t count

his sins.

Having said this, he returned home and he told his wife everything just as

the Lord said to him and told her: Come, let us go to our country, for the Lord

ordered me so. And his wife said: Yes, my master. And two of them went

together, guided by Rufā’el.

They arrived to the land called Sāy, one of the provinces of Bəgwanā, and

they looked for a place to stay overnight. They reached [a place] where there

was an avaricious rich man, who wasn’t afraid of the Lord and wasn’t ashamed

of people, but rather he believed in his wealth and it seemed to him, that he

would [never] die. He didn’t receive people who were coming to him and he

didn’t lodge the needy in his house, but rather people of the wilderness ate him

[everything] with great force. It is in regard to him that Salomon said: You’ve

seen the evil under the sun, when a rich man doesn’t give to the poor, but he

won’t succeed in eating, but the enemy will eat what he gathered.

As for this rich man, such was his conduct. When a traveler came to him,

[his] dogs, having gathered, would bit him and they didn’t allow [anyone] to

enter his house, but instead they chased him far away, for he had many dogs,

fierce and strong like lions, leopards or wolves, and if a hyena had come close to

them, they would have devoured it in an instant.

When the blessed Yəmrəha got there, people of the town told him: Where

does this man go, to become a dinner for Bāro’s dogs? They shouted from far

away, telling him to escape from in front of the dogs. As for him, he was afraid

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and he wanted to escape but Rufā’el told him: Oh, man of the Lord , don’t be

afraid. How can you be terrified by a dog, when I’m with you, oh blessed

Yəmrəhanna Krəstos. And Yəmrəha told Rufā’el the angel: [I’m afraid] because

the barking noises of those dogs terrified me, and the shouting people scared me

very much, telling me “ Stay away from the dogs, so that they don’t eat you”.

That’s why I was afraid, advise me what to do, my Lord, should I escape or

should I stay? And Rufā’el the angel told him: Come, follow, let’s enter and let’s

stay overnight in this rich man’s house. Don’t be afraid, but have confidence

that you’ll see the Lord’s magnitude.

And so they entered the house of this stingy man and the dogs played with

them as if they knew them and they didn’t bite them. Having entered, they sat

waiting for the master of the house to come back home. After a while he came

back and saw Yəmrəha with Rufā’el, who resembled a young man. So he went

to his wife and asked her: Who led those young men into my house? And

besides, what happened to my dogs that they didn’t bite them? She replied: At

first they panted and ran about and I said “What have my dogs eaten that they

run [like that]?” When I was pondering so, those people entered and it seemed

to me that you were with them, for they didn’t bite them. And when I saw them

enter without you, I suspected that they are sorcerers, for the dogs didn’t bite

them. I was afraid that they would kill me, so I waited until you came back to

ask them.

This man, having heard this speech from his wife, got angry and took his

spear and went out forcefully and he chased away Yəmrəhanna Krəstos with

14
Rufā’el and he wanted to pierce him through with his spear, but the power of the

Lord hindered him. He escaped until the other part of the town, and the dogs

followed him, just like Tobias’ dogs followed Rufā’el until he turned away,

having reached Gubā’el, when he was sent to chase away the demon

’Ösmodyon from Sarah, after he killed her 7 husbands. He gave her in marriage

to Tobyas and he was underneath (?). He led her to where Tobit was, becoming a

friend to the bride and to the groom. And on his way there were Tobias’s dogs

with him.

Rufā’el said to Tobias and Tobit [when] they were taking leave: It is suitable to

hide the secret of the kingdom and he reveals to them the Lord’s deeds in glory

(?).

Now then, let me reveal to you, my beloved, a little bit of the story of the

blessed Yəmrəha, your father, so that your heart may rejoice hearing it , for it is

a story good to hear from far away, it will reinvigorate your bones and it will

sanctify your soul and your flesh and it will erase your trespasses and it will

accommodate your wandering. Amen.

While Yəmrəhanna Krəstos was in the place, where he had gone from that

man, those dogs came and they played with him. They stayed in front of the

blessed Yəmrəha, and their master was shouting: Come here, my so-and-so dog!

But all his dogs disobeyed him and a great miracle happened, just like it was

during our Lord Jesus Christ’ entering Dabra Qwasqwām with Virgin Mary, when

they escaped from the cursed Herod. On this day, dogs followed them, after the

people of Qusyā , scanty and deficient of intelligence, chased them away. But

15
the dogs bowed to our Lady Mary and her Son. Jesus told them: Remain here

for eternity as a commemoration of my entering to this monastery called

Qwasqwām. Do not allow in any Jew or pagan or [nobody] except those who

believe in my name. And so they are until this day at the yard of Dabra

Qwasqwām. By means of them, the glory of Ethiopia has been revealed [for] they

don’t bite a pilgrim from Ethiopia and they don’t take anything from them

[whereas] they don’t allow in any other Christians without taking [something]

from their food provisions, and any Jews or pagans they don’t allow in [at all].

As for our blessed father Yəmrəha, when they followed him, people of the

town said: He is a magician. Some of them said: This thing didn’t happen

through magic but it seems to us that he is the Lord’s servant. Behold, let’s bring

them to our homes, so that their God is not angry with us. And so they rose and

found them in the place, to where the avaricious man chased them away. They

told them: Come and enter our homes. Yəmrəha and Rufā’el said: We shall not

come, but rather we shall dwell here. And they compelled them [to it]. While

they were discussing so, one man saw a cross in Yəmrəha’s hand and asked: Are

you a priest or a clergyman? Bless me. So he blessed him and then everybody

was blessed. And then a man came, whose one eye was blind and he approached

Yəmrəhanna Krəstos in order to be blessed. While he was blessing him, the

Lord’s grace came upon him and he could see with the blind eye by the power of

the prayer of our father Yəmrəha and by the help of Rufā’el, may he guard us

all. Amen. Forthwith this man bowed to their feet and told them: My lords, if I

found grace [with you], stay with me, for the Lord’s sake. And then everybody

16
saw that the eye that had been blind was alive and they prostrated themselves

and said: May your grace come upon us, oh Lord’s servants, come to our homes

and forgive us that we had chased you away in the blindness of our hearts. And

this rich man fell to their feet and wept saying: Forgive me that I offended you

in the blindness of my heart, come to my home. They told him: May the Lord

forgive you only, you did evil, from now on don’t do it.

When it became evening, those people quarreled saying: Let them stay at

my place. Thus spoke everyone. The rich man said: If you don’t remember my

previous sin, stay with me. And they said: Yes, we’ll stay with you. And they

entered this rich man’s house. He prepared for them a fine table and they blessed

his house, and so there was joy and happiness in this rich man’s house. They

brought them many gifts and they spent the night discussing the Lord’s

greatness.

This man’s wife didn’t cease to slander him saying: What this man did, is

by magic. And then Satan leapt onto her and he cast her down and she was

stretched amid the gathered. Her husband said to the blessed Yəmrəha: Forgive

her her offence, for I know that a demon has possessed her, regarding the fact

that she abused you. Yəmrəha said: May the Lord forgive her. Only bring water

so that we purify her. They brought water and he prayed over the water and

blessed it with the sign of cross and he exorcised this woman. The Satan who

was on this woman said: Why do you cast me out from this woman? I’ve helped

you and disgraced her, for she offended you and the archangel Rufā’el who was

with you. The blessed Yəmrəha told him: It won’t happen to us that for evil we

17
pay back with evil, but rather for evil – with good. You didn’t help me, you who

can’t help yourself, evil, wicked and deaf! As for me, my help is from the Lord,

who made heaven and earth. Now then, I order you in the name of our Lord

Jesus Christ, who had been crucified, to go out from this woman and not to

enter onto her forever. And then Satan went out from this woman and he became

smoke. This woman stood up and bowed to the blessed Yəmrəha’s and Rufā’el’s

feet. This Satan, who was on her, disappeared from there without revealing his

name. Yəmrəha told her: My sister, why are you obstinate, as Salomon said “As

for an evil woman, one recognizes her by her face because of the evilness of her

heart”. Remove from yourself this perverse road. He exhorted her greatly and

she said: I’ll do whatever you order me, only forgive me that I insulted you and

don’t remember me in your heart. And he forgave her.

On the next day many people gathered near him and told him: Show us

the way of light, for we are obscure at heart. He told them: Listen my beloved

brothers to what I’ll tell you from the beginning. The Lord, who knows of things

hidden, knowing everything that would happen before it happens, created on the

first day angels and archangels. At that time, he also created the Devil and put

him in charge of one tribe, knowing that he would fall from the glory, having

violated the Lord’s order in the arrogance of his heart, [he] who said: “I’ll

dwell among the stars and I will resemble the Almighty.” He, who in his

jealousy said: “It was I who was created with wind and fire. Why should I bow

to Adam who had been created with water and soil?” And he who in his

jealousy said: “why does God love Adam, when it is me, who is glorious?”

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Because of that he fell from glory and he was rejected and deprived of light in

jealousy, boastfulness and vainglory, which are Satan’s weapons. If any man

follows jealousy, boastfulness and vainglory, he will perish and shall not receive

glory, but rather he will inherit humiliation.

This archangel, whom He created in glory and placed in glory not for

loving him but rather to bring to a stop any false discourse and so that he

couldn’t say he existed. When he told him: “Why have you conspired against

me? Haven’t I created you in glory, have I deprived you of light, haven’t I

appointed you? If I hadn’t appointed you nor glorified you, [then] you could

have said, that you disobeyed me because of the fact that I didn’t appoint you or

glorified you.” When the Lord asked the Devil: “Why have you disobeyed me?”

he couldn’t turn back a word and was dumb in his mouth. Like David said: “For

a mouth which consumes itself speaks injustice”.

On Sunday also he created 7 great families and on the second and third

day he created many creatures. On the fourth day he created sun, moon and

stars [as if it were] three days and he separated day from night by the light of

his upper chamber so that the Trinity was revealed. On the fifth day he created

two great whales from the water of Nāgab, one of them called Bə&emot, the

other Lewātān and He took care of them. My Lord, why did you do [so] that you

created two animals before Adam? On Saturday He created creatures each of its

own [species] and after all this He created Adam from the soil of land and he

blew the spirit of life in his face.

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 He made him a king of everything he had created and the one who has

dominion and the ruler of everything that had been created before him: animals,

beasts and fish, [of] what walks and flies, and He brought him to Paradise. And

he stayed in Paradise for 7 years, completely and diligently. Observe, my

beloved, [the fact] that He created Adam after [the other] creatures wasn’t out

of disdain, but rather because the Lord knows from the beginning what will be

before it happens. And to the human being [he did it] to keep away any false

discourse from him, because he knows his mind. If he had been created before

the creation, the man would have said: “I’ve created with the Lord the

creation”. [If] he had said this, he would have also been able to say: “The Lord

created the entire creation by my council and he established by our exhortation

the order of stars with moon and sun”. And so that the man didn’t lie this way,

He created him after the entire creation, for He knows how great is the

wickedness of mankind and their mind is perverse.

While being in the Paradise, he subdued animals, beasts and reptiles and

he guarded the fruit if Paradise, he ate and put aside the surplus for himself and

for his wife. There he disobeyed the Lord’s word and ate just as the Devil

suggested him, hoping to become God , and he was deprived of his grace, he

received a curse, which suffices to his offspring. Hoping for glory, he was

disgraced. As for the snake , the Lord cursed him saying: “Be cursed among the

animals and beasts. Crawl on your breast and eat soil.” Previously, it was like a

camel, previously animals and reptiles spoke in one speech and one language,

Adam used to summon them and order them and they obeyed.

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 When he went out of Paradise, he fumigated with storax, incense and

myrrh, He thought: “With this incense of mine He’ll transfer me back to

Paradise.” The Lord further got angry and said: “ He spread incense thinking

he would be returned, but I won’t allow him back to the Paradise and because of

this smoke he’ll make mute all the animals and beasts and birds.” And then [the

ability] to speak finished in all mouths of beasts, animals and birds. When Adam

saw that [the ability] to speak finished in all mouths of beasts, animals and

birds, he wept bitterly and his hope crumbled. When the Lord saw Adam’s bitter

cry, He told him: “I will be born from your daughter, I will crawl on your

squares, being a child. I will redeem you with my blood after 8 Sabbaths.” It

seemed to Adam that the number of 8 Sabbaths was a small one so he rejoiced

and danced. But the number of 8 Sabbaths [referred to] 1 Sabbath every 7 years

[which makes it in total] 5500 years. After this, animals, beast and birds

rendered service to man until Noah.

Noah made arc just as the Lord indicated him, so as to be saved from the

waters of the deluge. He gathered all the species of animals, beasts and birds. A

dove sat in superior window and it was pregnant. The snake’s dwelling was

under the dove, as Noah arranged it. When the dove started to give birth, its

companions oppressed it . When it went down to look for a place to give birth, it

reached the snake’s lodging. When the snake saw the dove, it opened its mouth

to devour it. The dove saw the snake’s mouth and thought that it found a suitable

place to give birth. By its clemency it stayed in its mouth and bore an egg and

didn’t realize that it was in the mouth of a voracious. The snake understood and

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opened its mouth. When it gave birth in its mouth, it contemplated saying: “ If I

ate it, the Lord would be angry with me and he would throw me into the deluge.

If I spit it out, it (the egg) will break because of me and I shall not escape His

anger. Then if I brought together my lips, my venom would stiffen it. It’s better

for me to die of hunger rather than to do wrong before the Lord and die in the

waters of the deluge.”

Having said this, the snake opened his mouth and kept the dove’s egg

inside it. And it gave birth again. A nestling went out of its egg, while it was

inside the snake’s mouth until he didn’t make it fly and took it. As for the snake,

it guarded wisely 4 souls – himself, the dove and its two nestlings. Observe, my

beloved, the clemency of the dove and the wisdom of the snake. Because of that

our Lord said in the Gospel: “Be wise as a snake and mild as a dove”. And he

didn’t say: “Be biting, venomous and murderous like a snake”. For a snake is

wickedness, wisdom and venom, as the Law says: “Snake is wise and he was the

first to summon the name of its creator saying ‘What is it that the Lord told

you?’”.

Now then, my brothers, since you’ve become as mild as to escape from

the mouth of your enemies and if you’ve become wise as the snake, guard your

soul and the souls of your companions. But if you’ve become ferocious and mad,

you’ll perish. Guard the clemency as the dove and wisdom as the snake.

The animals, the beasts and the birds, impure and pure, which were inside

the arc, the Lord saw that they served to human. He said further “ The man

boasts of the fact, that he subjugated elephants, rhinoceri, buffalos, lions,

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leopards and mighty and terrifying dragons, but only 5 species of the pure are

enough for him, these are: cows, sheep, goats, chicken and bees, and 5 of the

impure: camel, horse, ass, dog and cat.

All this he created for us on account of our sins so that we subjugate

them. Now, we’re afraid of them, observe my brothers, if we plowed with

elephants, rhinoceri or buffalos, we wouldn’t know the Lord who created us.

Now then also, beware of boastfulness and envy and impudence and adultery, it

is because of the adultery committed by the vigilant that the deluge happened on

earth.

Thus the blessed Yəmrəha taught them and he told those people more than

that. They marveled at the sweetness of his discourse and the eloquence of his

mouth. One man from among them told him: All this that you’ve ordered us , we

shall do. There’s only one thing that troubles us, my Lord. Yəmrəha said: What

is it, tell me! They told him: There are two brothers born from one father and

one mother, they are always quarrelling and disturb us. Our hearts ache from

hearing the talk of their hatred. If we do justice to the older, the younger won’t

be submissive. If we do justice to the younger, the older won’t be submissive, for

both of them are panicky. What should we do? They won’t take part in the

service [together], they won’t drink together at the assembly. If we wanted to

reject them, we can’t for they are our family. If we wanted to send them and

chase them away from our town, we can’t for they are the elders of the town and

the rank of their father was also [such]. We are disturbed, what to do. If you

can, reconcile them for us, oh Lord!

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 The blessed Yəmrəha told them: Bring them to me and I shall reconcile

them by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Then he called these two brothers and they

came and stood before him. He told them: Why do you quarrel, my brothers?

Don’t you know that everything ends with death? Where is your father and your

mother? Remember where those who were born from Adam until this day are.

Now then, tell me, why do you quarrel? What was the beginning of your hatred,

tell me!

The older said: I will tell you, my Lord. From the moment I saw you, the

love towards you came into my heart. Your discourse like [that of] the Lord’s

angel is very amazing and what you ask me, I shall tell you. When my father was

[alive], he gave me in marriage and sent me to live in my house with little

possessions. I lived in poverty and those possessions weren’t enough for me to

look after my house, my clothes, my wife and for my servants it was too small. I

requested my father: “Add me ’abbā from your possessions while you are [still

here] for me [for] I’m in need.” And my father told me: “For now, stay on your

own strength and when I die, you shall divide with your brother for I have no

other but you.” I said: “Yes ’abbā, like you said.” And then, when my father

died I told my brother: “Share with me the possessions of my father.” He told

me however: “I won’t give”. Because of this we quarrel, they told you.

He asked the younger one and he said: My Lord, listen to what I tell you.

This brother of mine, while my father was alive, they gave him in marriage a

wife for my father’s possessions (as a dowry) and they brought him home with

big marriage feast. Then he divided the possessions and he forced him to leave

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the house so as to live with his wife on his own. He thrifted away the great

possessions my father had given him. Afterwards he told me that I should share

with him the little possessions that were left behind for me from my father’s

wealth and in which he participated. I remained rendering service in my father’s

home. As for him, he stayed raising up his house. Why should I share with him?

The blessed Yəmrəha asked about the whole affair according to what he

heard from the older, him having heard but he experienced little by the hand of

his father, when there was a lot. The blessed Yəmrəhanna Krəstos wise and mild

said: May it be like that, of the 5 parts 2 shall go to the older, 3 to the younger.

Do so after dividing [everything] into 5 parts. The house should go to the

younger and only possessions should be divided.

When he said so, it happened as if the dew of Yəmrəhanna Krəstos’s

speech was in the hearts of the two brothers. Both of them said: Oh lord, your

word is sweet, your speech is milk. If we had found earlier someone like you, we

wouldn’t have agued. Now then, order us what to do.

When the people of the village saw, that these two brothers are giving

thanks to Yəmrəha, they said in that moment: Who does the man who came into

our village resemble? What does resemble the sweetness of his voice and the

light of his eyes? The beauty of his stature is delightful, his speech is gracious.

What is his name, that we remember him after he goes away from us? They

asked him: What is your name? We called you peacemaking and luminous. Now

then, tell us your name. The blessed Yəmrəha told them his name [saying]: As

for me, sinner, my name is Yəmrəha. The people told him whispering: We heard

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from our fathers that during Yəmrəha’s reign the faith would be right and people

of Rome would be subjugated to the people of Ethiopia during his

administration. Others said: Yes, we heard that also in the reign of his brother

Lālibalā the same would happen. Angels will walk about with people during the

administration of these two brothers, Yəmrəha and Lālibalā.

When they were discussing so, a man came, who lived in the king’s court,

and said: King Tantawdəm is dead. They told him: Where did you hear it? He

told them: Yesterday I was there. They told him: Who reigns? He said: I don’t

know. Then they asked Yəmrəha saying: From what country are you and what is

your family? Tell us and don’t hide it from us, in the name of God of heaven!

Yəmrəha told them: I am the son of Gərwā Śəyum and my older father is

Tantawdəm and my younger father is Zān Śəyum. And since you made me

swear by the God of heaven, I told you the truth. The people took counsel

saying: What excuse are we looking for? Behold, our king is dead, the prophecy

has appeared, the one who is called Yəmrəha is here, let’s make him a king.

Let’s not tarry in doing this thing. Everybody agreed to this advice and they

made Yəmrəha a king by the will of the Father, by the consent of the Son and by

the help of the Holy Spirit. The herald was going around saying: Blessed and

honoured Yəmrəhanna Krəstos, the good, has reigned by the will of the Lord,

the king of heaven and earth. The horn was blown and they made him ride the

royal mule which was there and the people climbed following him, shouting and

howling with joy: Long live the father of the king Yəmrəha. And they clothed

him in new clothes as if of a baldachin until they sent him to the king’s court.

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 Then they sent [messengers] and announced: Behold, the blessed

Yəmrəha who for reasons of kingship was sent from country to country and from

wilderness to wilderness. It wasn’t us who searched him, but the Lord searched

him and sanctified him. It wasn’t us who made him king by our will, but the Lord

made him king and chose him to be the anointed one. When we saw his

miracles, that he opened the blind man’s eyes and that he chased away demons

and he made peace among us, we bowed to him. And we are not the only ones to

have intelligence, also Bəro’s dogs bowed him to his feet. And don’t think that

this thing is a lie, but you shall see with your own eyes. Now then, prepare the

rite for the royal feast of Yəmrəha and place him on the royal throne. After you

heard this message, don’t tarry to come, for it was from the Lord.

When the message reached the king’s court and was told to the elders of

the people and to the princes, they rejoiced and they thanked the Lord for the

fact, that the suffering Yəmrəha had been found and he reigned rightly. They

told him: Come, let’s go crying aloud to Yəmrəha the sacrificer and the one who

justifies the sinners. May his prayer protect us and may his intercession be with

his servant forever and ever. Amen.

After they buried Tantawdəm they got prepared to welcome the blessed

Yəmrəha and they walked with glory and spiritual hymn saying: Hurray, hurray

for the king of Ethiopia, hurray Yəmrəhanna Krəstos hurray, the pillar of the

congregation, the sanctity of your soul has sanctified our souls. Amen. As for me

sinner your servant… Saying this, they welcomed him from the land of Sāy to

the land of ’Adafā.

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 He stayed there on the royal throne and arranged everything according to

the law of the Apostles. Furthermore, he sent around heralds saying: Every man

should stay with his wife and every woman should stay with her husband. Why

do you say, that you’ll take many women to have many children and to have

profits on earth? Don’t you know that when the Lord created Adam, he created

him on his own, and his wife went out from Adam’s side on her own [as if] one

bone? Do you think that if the Lord had lacked 100 bones, he would have

arranged to give Adam 100 wives so that he might increase quickly? The Lord

didn’t do it that way, but instead he gave him one to show us the regulation. As

for you, obey it and don’t make it to have 2 or 3 [wives] like those do who don’t

know the baptism and one incarnation.

Furthermore, he ordained that they shouldn’t worship idols and that they

shouldn’t believe the word of diviners who choose one day from [all the] days,

one night from [all] the nights and one hour from all the hours. And also [he

ordered that] they shouldn’t be instructed by the deceitful book that was found

on the rock {qərəst ba’əybo nə³ər} the grandson of Noah, which is called

’Es³elubā and the one who knows this one shall not have pardon before the

Lord.

He also ordered to say: If there are 2 or 3 brothers from one father and

one mother, and one is poor and the other is rich, the rich one should share his

possessions with his poor brother, because both were born from the same womb.

Thus ordained to his people the blessed Yəmrəha and afterwards he spent 4

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years in the Lord’s service, ordaining his people to worship Him and the people

subjugated to his teaching, because his reign was from the Lord.

Afterwards, he decided to build a fortress to his Lord and he looked for a

place. He found a beautiful land, where there was water and trees and which was

close. Its name was Zāzyā which is translated as: Here I was pleased to build a

home to the God of heaven. As for this land, it was sold for his possessions,

[despite him] being the king, he didn’t take it by force from the one who

governed this land. If he had wanted to take it gratis, who would have hindered

it, while he was a king? But instead he gave a price for it so as to be rewarded

before the Lord. He made there [a construction] similar to Moses’ sanctuary

until he didn’t build there a church to ordain the Holy Communion.

One day people told the blessed Yəmrəha: Bless for us the communion so

that we receive it from your hands, for today is the feast of our Lady Mary, the

20th of the month hazirān which is in gə’əz sane, the day of the construction of

the house of the Queen of Heaven. Yəmrəha told them: It is not possible for me,

the sinner, to touch the glory of the flesh of our Lord with my impure fingers. But

the people were forcing and perjuring him in the home of our Lady Mary, and

the blessed Yəmrəha told them: I’m afraid that the angel of the altar might

strike me, while the priest who offers a sacrifice, when he’s not worthy [of it], if

he blesses with irreverence, the angel of the altar strikes him and he makes him

suffer and he shortens the time of his life. Now then, my brothers, be watchful,

for it is great and glorious [thing] to fracture the flesh of the One who doesn’t

die with a mortal hand. How difficult and amazing [it is that] seraphim tremble

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from it. They don’t grasp it with their hands but with pincers, afraid and

terrified. As for you, the priests, don’t hasten in irreverence but rather be afraid

and terrified of the fire of Godhead. As for me, don’t make me do it either. Only

because you’ve perjured me in the name of our queen, give me some time. They

replied: May it be for tomorrow. He said: if we live by the will of the Lord, yes.

He spent this day and night supplicating in many tears. He said: Before I

sat on the royal throne, I dared to break your flesh. But now, being the one to

rule over your people, can I break it with my hands, oh Lord? For you said:

“There is no servant who can serve two lords”. Oh Lord, could you accept it if I

rendered service to the kingdom and the priesthood alike? A voice told him: I

take pleasure in you, my beloved, for you are pure from any impurity.

On the second day, [the day of] consecration of the house of our Lady

Mary, he ordained the Holy Communion inside the tent. When he said: Send us

the grace of the Holy Spirit upon us, oh Lord, the angel of the altar came

towards him, in the form of a white dove and he brought him heavenly bread,

shining, round and abundant, and a chalice in one hand. He told him: “Take this

and break” the Lord of the mighty told you and he placed it on a paten. The

blessed Yəmrəha pondered saying: This I shall break but where should I leave

that? How should I act? He (the angel) taught him everything how to do and he

did just as the angel told him. When he offered in sacrifice the heavenly bread,

he remained in this place which he built for 22 years.

Afterwards, the troops told him: What sort of king is that? A king with one

wife! To how numerous an army can one wife prepare a table? The elders of the

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people came to Yəmrəha and told him: There’s something we want to tell you.

He told them: Tell me, speak! They told him: Who is more respectable than

Abraham, our father, the Lord’s friend? His three women were: Sarah, Hagar

and Ketura. Who is superior to Jacob, who fought with the Lord from the early

evening until the break of dawn and there he was called Israel? Didn’t he have 4

wives: Leah, Rachel, Leba and Zalafa? Who is more glorious than the king

David , for whom the Lord gave testimony saying: “I found David as my servant

according to my heart”?. He had 100 wives. As for you, our Lord, listen to what

your servants tell you and arrange for yourself [to have] 4 wives, 2 queens on

your right, 2 queens on your left, if you do so, your kingdom will be right and

your table shall be at peace. This is what we counsel you.

Yəmrəha told them: Why do you say so, the Lord’s people? It’s better for

us to make ourselves worthy for the Lord. It is not because of eating that you

lead my heart astray nor because of progeny – God forbid, don’t do so! I shall

not dismiss my priesthood.

They told him: It’s not because of the marriage that we tell you this, but

because of preparing food and drink to those who work building the fortress. He

told them: Be silent, for this speech is worthless. When he said so, they went

silent and they went out ashamed. The blessed Yəmrəha took a little rest and

afterwards, having woken up, thoughts came upon him, good and evil, which

happen. And he said: If I appointed 4 [women] to do my table, it would be too

much, they would say between each other: “I did more beautiful” or “I did it

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better”, there would be only error that way. It wouldn’t be appropriate. He spent

the day pondering like that.

On the next day he came to the service, but the bread didn’t come from

heaven and he wept and lamented. He supplicated greatly. A voice told him:

Why are you bothered, mortal one? Don’t you know that what you thought this

night was pointless? Yəmrəha told the one who spoke: Does the Lord punish for

what is in the mind , without it being done? He said: Haven’t you heard what the

Book says: “The Lord sees the heart, while people see the face”. It says

furthermore: “The Lord examines the heart and the kidneys”. And in the

Gospel: “Whoever saw a woman and desired her, already fornicated with her in

his heart.” And in Kidān it says: If there is someone who is sick in his mind, he

shouldn’t come near.” And the apostles said: Love the Lord, your God, with

your entire mind?” Don’t you know that your mind is a spring of every deed?

When he told him this, Yəmrəha wept and went out sad. He stood for the entire

night [facing] towards the East of this church. And when the cock crowed, he

was tired and unable to stand. Then, blood flowed from his nose and felon the

ground together with his tears and it made the ground muddy.

When he was bowing down, our Lord Jesus Christ came to him with his

angels, Michael on the right and Gabriel on the left. Other angels were in front

of him and behind him. And he told Yəmrəhanna Krəstos: Why are you sad and

crying, my beloved? Behold, I’ve come to comfort you. I have forgiven you that

your heart was ready to fall in one moment. Yəmrəha told our saviour: If you

forgave me my sin, would you give me heavenly bread as before, my Lord? The

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Lord of everything told him: Surely, I won’t forbid it to you, but in this place I

won’t give it to you without your body being buried.

The blessed Yəmrəha told our Lord: My Lord, where will my body be

buried? Where will you give me your heavenly bread? Oh Lord, don’t reject this

place which I built in your name. Jesus said to Yəmrəha: I shall not reject your

sanctuary but when the kingdom returns to Israel because of my pact that I

made with their fathers and then your grave shall be destroyed, I tell you.

Yəmrəha said: Where will you guide me oh Lord? The saviour said to Yəmrəha:

To Wagra Səþin. Here build me a home in my name. There I shall wrap you in

the mantle of my grace. Your body shall stay there until the day of resurrection .

Do not want [any] grass to cover your sanctuary but I shall cover it with my

wings of stone forever. As for me, I shall establish a pact with you. Anyone who

remembers your name with trustful heart, if he asks me saying: “Have mercy on

me oh Lord for the sake of Yəmrəha, your beloved” I shall hear his prayer and I

shall absolve his sins. I shall make him clean like [he was] on the day that he

was born from the womb of the baptism, I shall pardon his sins. If he is like a

full ship, I shall make him like straw. If he is like a red dye, I shall make him

pure like wool. If he is like a raven, I shall make him white as snow. Every man

who asks me in you name in any affliction, I shall hear his prayer and I shall

give him what he asks.

I tell you truly, no man shall reach your tomb without me, my Father and

the Holy Spirit loving him. Whoever reaches you, I will pull him by the cord of

my grace, Whoever pays a visit to your tomb, remembering your pact, I shall

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bestow on him a joy of 1000 years at the holiday dinner with my saints and

afterwards he will reign with you in your heritage, for eternity, forever and ever.

And everyone who will belittle and despise your sanctuary, I shall order

to throw him into Sheol for eternity. As for a priest who serves well in your

church, I shall put him in a first-born church, but to the one who does it with

haughtiness, there will be no compassion. My beloved Yəmrəhanna Krəstos,

whatever you ask me, I shall give you, what you don’t ask me I shall add it for

you. [The one] who does your commemoration and calls your name and has

your vita written, will live an eternal life. Keep safe your servant NN and don’t

ever arrange Sheol [for him].

If a man prays in your church on the day of your commemoration from

morning until evening, being vigilant, I shall count him with 144.000 children

who were killed in my name. Who reads your vita, I shall give him

a compensation: for one grain of word, 7 times as much in heaven. If he

introduces incense to your church, I shall receive it as the perfumes of Nicodem,

in which my body was wrapped when I experienced death for the love of man. If

he introduces some clothes, I’ll accept it as the linen cloth of Nicodem, with

which he covered the nakedness of my body, having taken it from the cross. If he

introduces wheat, I will receive it as the sacrifice of Melchisedek. And if he

introduces to your sanctuary olive, oil, and torch, I will make his light shine

with the oil of my grace. Your glory will not be in this world, but in heaven. I

shall glorify you like David, my faithful, you will be in my palace in my

kingdom.

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 On earth I shall glorify you 10 times more than you’re glorious now.Now

then, come, I’ll show you the place of your burial which is called Wagra Səþin.

Tomorrow, having got up, walk the path I’ll lead you to. Tell your people

“Come, follow me at hunting animals”. I will show you this rock so that you

build in it the house of my peace. This blood that poured from your nose it won’t

be in vain, but in the place where your blood made the brook muddy, a trunk of

the vine shoot will sprout for the purity of your blood forever. This vine shoot

which will be constantly, without drying up, for the commemoration of your pact

– may it be accepted.

Having said this, our Lord gave the pact to the blessed Yəmrəha and

afterwards he ascended to heaven. The blessed Yəmrəhanna Krəstos rejoiced

and exulted. He said: Blessed be you, oh Lord, your voice is agreeable, your

name is sweet. The word which came from your mouth won’t be shown false.

Just like your greatness, such is your mercy. You fill heaven and earth and so

[they are] filled with your mercy. Everywhere [is] the praise to you and to your

father, greatness and thanksgiving to your spirit and mercy to your people

forever and ever. Amen.

On the next day, he ordered his troops saying: Come, let’s hunt animals.

They followed him to where he went, rejoicing and saying: The king’s heart has

turned to hunting animals, just like the prior kings. Then, he will come to our

banquets and he’ll take many wives like we told him, for, behold, he began to

hunt animals. We are distressed by the fact that the king is a priest and his

hardship is like a custom of a monk, while we remained saying: “What should

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we do?” And now the Lord took care of us and he began for us the rite of kings.

And others said: He is good and there is no one who would make war under his

administration. The people of Rome obey to him not through sword but through

prayer. We are tranquil in his kingdom and the Lord sends rain to us in every

season, by his help there is abundance for his troops. Why do you speak ill of

such a king? [Thus] said people whom the Holy Spirit made speak.

When they were discussing so, they reached this rock which is called

Wagra Səþin and in ancient times it was called GəËot. Rufā’el instructed the

blessed Yəmrəha and told him: [This is the place] that the Lord told you: “Build

a stone sanctuary” and [there are] many trees and twigs of grass in it. He told

him: Cleanse and cut the trees that are here.

When they began to cut an olive tree which was at the entrance of the

rock, Satan fell on a man who was cutting the tree and who was called Krəstos

Bəna. The blessed Yəmrəhanna Krəstos having seen this, bless him with the sign

of cross and he told him: I order you in the name of Jesus of Nasaret to go out

from this man. The Satan said to the blessed Yəmrəha: Why do you chase me out

from this beloved rock of mine, in which I dwelled, while many people

worshipped me? In this olive grove they would slay for me cows, goats, sheep,

divining by me. And in your kingdom I’m grieved because [my] respect has

decreased .Now then, why are you chasing me out from my abode? I will accept

this man who was cutting the tree of my shelter.

This demon resisted to the blessed Yəmrəha and was strangling the man

who was cutting and wanted to kill him. When Rufā’el saw the arrogance of the

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Devil, he tied him and took him to the country of ’Azāf and there he chained

him with great chains. Qirqos helped the blessed Yəmrəha and placed him 9the

devil) in darkness and he sealed him with a stone, and so that he didn’t go out he

did on him the sign of cross. Because of that Yəmrəha did in this place a tābot of

Qirqos, the head [of children] for his help in defeating the enemy.

And then Yəmrəha cut all the trees, grass and burned them in fire. When

he burned it, he found inside the rock a large lake and said: How can I build

something on this lake? The voice told him: Put a tree in the middle of the lake,

put grass on this tree and on the grass put some mud. Then, having put some

soil, build a monastery. He did everything just as [the voice] told him and there

was {golgola} to him within the rock and its width was very great and so was its

length. The blessed Yəmrəha laid a foundation on the 13th day of the month

{sibt yolyos} which is maskaram. While building, he prayed to finish and

Rufā’el helped him and there he ordained the heavenly bread.

Afterwards a shoot of wine sprouted in the place where the blood from his

nose dropped. And it made a cluster and when he introduced this cluster to offer

it in the chalice of salvation, at this moment the heavenly bread went down to

him, which lingered ever since he thought an evil thought regarding women.

After that he ordained the heavenly bread for 18 years. He performed the

priestly duties with the heavenly bread for 40 years [altogether].

When the people of Rome heard about the virtue of the blessed Yəmrəha,

many bishops and archbishops, priests and deacons, came to him, their number

was 50740. They told him: May your prayer come upon us, our glorious father,

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whom the Lord glorified and loved a lot. As for us, we heard from one monk the

story of your virtue and so we came to be blessed by you and to see your face.

Yəmrəha told them: What is the story that the monk told you about me? They

said: We questioned him when he was dying and we said: “Tell us what the Lord

revealed to you when he gave you the pact and whether he showed you your

heritage, for you are perfect in the law of Anthony, the carrier of the collar of

monkhood since your childhood.” He told us: “Why do you call me a monk?

Call me rather a liar, me who lied to my God after telling him ‘I shall leave this

world and everything in it because of your name’. Then I took little fruit from

the world for the desire of my flesh. Now then, you ask me to give explanation to

you. As for me, I saw how an angel brings down the heavenly bread white as

snow. I said to this angel: ‘To which monk does my Lord bring it down?’ He told

me ‘It’s not to a monk but to a king’. I said to him: ‘Where is such a man, that in

his kingdom the bread of heaven is given to him?’ He told me: ‘He is Ethiopian.

This bread that you see is not for food but that the priestly duties be performed

with it. It is given so always, every day’. Having said this, I amazed and said:

‘Who shall take me to this king?’ The angel told me: ‘Don’t look for him, for

today you soul shall be taken’. I wept, my brothers, when he was in his reign,

the Lord delighted in him. As for us, [although] we are monks, we don’t do His

will even for one hour. Why do we linger, my brothers?”. When he told us so, we

wept and came to you, hoping to take the Communion from your hands.

He told them: If the Lord delights in our sacrifices, by your prayer stay

here, my fathers and my brothers. And they stayed many years with him until

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the blessed Yəmrəha died. After he died they went and they entered rocks and

they lived [there] rendering service to the Lord until they died. May their prayer

be with us forever and ever. Amen.

The archbishop ’abbā ’Atnatewos came to Yəmrəhanna Krəstos, when he

knew of his excellent virtue. The blessed Yəmrəha bowed to ’abbā Qerlos

saying: The Lord takes care of the country of Ethiopia, for he sent an

archbishop to it. As for you, bless it, oh ’abbā, patriarch,’aryāros, the father to

the entire world. The archbishop bowed to Yəmrəha saying: The country of

Ethiopia is blessed by the word of Jesus and by the mouth of our Lady Mary, for

this region is Mary’s lot. Neither Jew nor pagan shall reign in it, but only the

one of righteous faith on the orthodox throne. Listen to what I tell you, your

country is the most glorious of all countries. In our country there are three

things [which] bear witness for it.

One is the cedar of Lebanon which the right hand of the Highest planted.

Nobody can take [even] a little from its branches except an Ethiopian who will

take it to make a cross. If a man from another country is told to touch it, he will

die at once and perish. If a Jew wanted to take shelter under it, he would

become rapidly sick and die.

Furthermore, the second testimony is the dogs which are at the gates of

Qwasqwām. Just like the saviour of the world ordered them, they don’t allow in

anyone except those who travel from your country. Ask your pilgrims that they

tell you.

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 The third testimony, the greatest of these and which shall reveal to you the

glory of your country [is that] on the eve of Easter the lamp doesn’t go down

from heaven to any other people except people of Ethiopia. It is arranged thus:

every year they place 7 lanterns, having put olive inside them, and they

extinguish fire from the houses in entire Jerusalem. Then they encircle the tomb

of our Lord 7 times one following another. And the lamp doesn’t come down to

them, but it comes to Ethiopians, when they encircle with their lanterns for the

third time, according to their law.

Then people of Jerusalem, those of 7 thrones together, envied them

saying: “Why do they boast so much against us, those people dark and with

scarred faces, whose fathers were [from] Canaan?” They said to the

archbishop: “Chase them away from our country and if you refuse, we shall kill

them and there will be war between Christians”. The archbishop, having heard

what they said, he sent all the Ethiopian pilgrims to a distant land for 3 years.

He told them: “Then you’ll come back in glory”. After they went away, all the

Christians gathered for the feast of Easter. They encircled according to their rite

but the lighting lamp didn’t come down to them. The pagans told them: “Either

bring your lamp or renounce your faith; if you refuse to do it, we shall kill you”.

They drew their swords and wanted to cut their throats. And then many

screamed and wept saying: “All the evil happened to us because we did evil to

the people of Ethiopia and we chased them away from Jerusalem. And now who

shall bring them for us so that the lamp descended? And if not, who shall give

us time to search an Ethiopian?” When they were telling this, they wept and

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sighed. One of them said: “Come, let’s look for a bone of an Ethiopian, so that

we all don’t die and if not [at least] so that we preserve our faith.” Then they

searched for a tomb of an Ethiopian, they took his bone and carrying it they

encircled 7 times the tomb of our Lord. And then the lighting lamp descended

and because of that your glory was revealed to be greater than ours and the

wealth of your country – greater than the wealth of our countries.

As for me, I was eager to come here and see your land and so that my

body is buried in it. Now then, the Lord has irrigated it with the dew of heaven

from his heights.

When the archbishop said so, Yəmrəha was amazed greatly and he said:

Blessed be the Lord, God of Israel, who made me a king in this good country

which I don’t deserve. Blessed be his name forever and ever. Amen.

The blessed Yəmrəha sent a messenger to the king of Egypt saying: Send

me a bolt that was in your chamber so that it is in the house of the Lord. He sent

him a lot of gold. When the king saw this gold that Yəmrəha had sent, he sent

him this bolt and this Lebanese cedar which was in his temple. Ever since the

blessed Yəmrəha closed it without a bar, it hasn’t been unlocked until today. And

if there is an Egyptian or a Roman who sees it and reads the document engraved

on it, he will know, that this is a Lebanese cedar and it had been planted by the

right hand of the Possessor of strength.

Observe, my beloved, what a grace the Lord gave to the blessed Yəmrəha,

more glorious than the glory of other righteous. Like Paul says: Different is the

glory of the sun and different is the glory of the moon and different is the glory

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of stars in the sky. One star may be more glorious than the other. Such is the

rising of the saints. Henoch said: The face of those who obtained patience shines

7 times more than the sun. Verily, wear the tunic of patience, as it is said in the

Gospel: Through your patience you have obtained your souls.

As for the blessed Yəmrəhanna Krəstos, he bore patiently many afflictions

in his kingdom. He didn’t desire luxuries for his flesh, but rather he stayed in

hardship and fasted always for every of the 40 weeks (?), until he found help

concerning everything he thought of.

They brought him hailstone and with this hailstone he made a window for

his temple. They brought him many trees from Rome and Egypt. All the peoples

wished to see his face and help him to build the fortress. Particularly people of

Rome served him and brought him as a gift 25 tall crosses and Yəmrəha rejoiced

when he saw it.

When the fortress was finished just as the Holy Spirit instructed him, he

prayed: Oh my Lord, this place that I built in your name accept it for me, my

Lord. If the people pray [in it] because of all the concerns of their sorrow, hear

oh Lord, from heaven and from your worthy abode. May your ears be open for

hearing the prayer of your servants and your scribe Gabra Mikā’el. My God,

don’t turn your face away from me!

When the blessed Yəmrəhanna Krəstos prayed so, Jesus Christ came to

him with many angels and he told Yəmrəha: Salute to you, my beloved and my

chosen one! I will give you whatever you ask me and I shall do it for you.

Yəmrəha told our Lord: I desire one thing from you, my Lord. Return this

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kingdom to Israel and may it not withdraw from the offspring of Jacob, who sits

on the throne of David, the prince of Judah. Now then, give it back to them. And

if you are angry with their transgressions, remember Abraham, Isaac and

Jacob, your faithful to whom you swore on your head saying: “Through your

offspring may all the people of the earth be blessed.” You said also: “I shall not

reject Jacob. I know you [more] than any other people of the earth.” You said

furthermore: “I shall keep watch with a stick over their sins and with a whip

over their transgressions. I shall not keep back my grace from them and I shall

not act wickedly with my justice and I shall not defile my pact and what went

out from my mouth shall not lie. I have already sworn on my sanctity, that to

David I shall not lie. His testimony is reliable in heaven”. Now then,

remembering the words you spoke, return the kingdom of Ethiopia to Israel,

your people, for the sake of Mary, your mother from whom you became

incarnated. Don’t reject my request and hear me quickly. If you don’t hear me,

erase me from the book what you wrote for me.

When he said so, the Lord of the mighty answered him: My beloved,

listen to what I tell you. I scold the one I love. Previously, my heart was sad

because Sara laughed and didn’t believe my words when I said: “When I come

back this day, Sara will have a child”. Because of that I reduced to slavery her

children for 400 years. Afterwards, because the crying and anguish of Israel

and because their children slipped into moulding bricks and she refused to

shake off her mourning, at that time I abandoned the vengeance I had at heart

and I returned them to Israel with great honour.

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 Now then, because of one word that the king of Ethiopia spoke and

decreased my power, saying to his official: “As for me, when do you speak of my

might? You always say: ‘I did something by the Lord’s might’ when shall you say

‘I did something by the king’s might’?” When he said so I got angry.

Furthermore, his heart was not unblemished with me and he envied me that he

wasn’t God. So I took his kingdom from him and gave it to the one who wanted

it, just like Moses said: “As for them, they envied me that they are not God and

I’ll make them jealous that they are not people, I’ll make them irritated by

stupid people”. Behold, may years [have passed] since I took it from them and

now little [time] is left till my fortress is finished and till the top king called

Yəkuno ’Amlāk is born, I’ll give it to him.

Yəmrəhanna Krəstos said to our saviour: Do not prolong this reign

neither for me nor for my family, my Lord. Thus said Yəmrəha, for he didn’t love

earthly glory, hoping for the kingdom of heaven and [to be] in the sheepfold of

heaven where there is no sickness nor pain nor death, no sorrow.

Yəmrəha said to his Lord: I desire that in the end of my days my blood be

spilled for your holy name. His Lord said to him: Your reward at me shall not be

smaller than [the reward of] all my martyrs, my beloved. Yəmrəha told him:

Fulfill for me my every request. As for this temple that I built for you, I want to

adorn it with gold and silver. The Lord of the mighty said: I don’t want nor gold

nor silver but it is me who glorified the stones of your table [more than] gold

and all the precious stones. Don’t be preoccupied by that, but rather if you put

gold, the enemy will come and destroy it. Yəmrəhanna Krəstos said: I’m

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thinking of adorning your home and making it with gold and silver, my Lord.

Our saviour said: What’s with you? Do how you think. And then our Lord

ascended from him in great glory.

Then Yəmrəhanna Krəstos thought to search the gold and silver to make

the temple. He went to Arabia with many troops and he reached a town and

stayed at the lower part of a mountain and slept for a while. Then he became

sick, his troops having seen it said: Woe is us! For what we can do to bring the

king to his country and to his palace, if he dies or lives? For he is old and his

days have passed. When they were pondering it Yəmrəhanna Krəstos told them:

Why do you grieve in your hearts? If the Lord wants me to come back, I shall

live. If he doesn’t want it, may his will be fulfilled. Now then, forgive me my sins,

if I oppressed you or mistreated you or I imposed [too] heavy taxation on you.

And they said: You didn’t oppress us nor mistreated us. For whom do you

abandon us? Where shall we find a king and a priest such as you? Father and

mother! Thus they wept because of his sickness.

As for the blessed Yəmrəhanna Krəstos, he pleaded his God in tears for

the whole night. Our Lord came to him and told him: Here I am, I’ve come to

receive you in this hour, for the spirit of the Lord and the Holy Spirit have

agreed that I raise your soul and introduce you to the Paradise of righteousness

that you may rejoice with them. For on this hour that the sun enters the

Paradise of righteousness turning from west to east, towards north – and on this

hour there is joy and happiness in heaven and on earth, and when the earth

rejoices, the cock knows it and crows, praising the Lord. As for me, I came to

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you to receive you in this hour. Yəmrəha told our saviour: In what way shall my

soul separate from my body? As for me, I’ve been afraid of this hour since my

childhood and today it’s come. How shall I stand in front of your trinity, me who

didn’t please you for [even] one hour?

Our Lord told him: Don’t be afraid. Observe, the luminous angels and

many righteous and David with his lyre, playing it assiduously with his

plectrum, chanting and saying: “Glorious is the death of the righteous in front

of God. To a God-fearing his end is beautiful and the day of his death is

revealed”. Furthermore he said: “The king rejoices in your might and he’s

happy because of your deliverance, your priests wear righteousness, your

righteous rejoice greatly.”

When the son of Yesse was saying so, the soul of the blessed Yəmrəha

went out and bowed to her creator and the Saviour hailed it and embraced it on

his lap. Than he gave it to Rufā’el and many angels were chanting before him

and after him and Rufā’el, supporting him by his bright wings, came back to his

resting place. As for us, may we share his heritage with him, forever and ever.

Thus died the blessed Yəmrəha on the 19th tāsrin which is ³əqəmt, from

glory to glory, from wealth to wealth, just lika Saul said: There are those who go

from glory to glory and those who go from misery into glory. As for him, he was

glorious on earth and rich in heaven. To those who lean on him, may his prayer

take care of us up in the sky and down on earth and may it guard us from the

Devil and his treachery forever and ever. Amen.

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 When the troops saw our father Yəmrəha, they wept bitterly until they got

tired, for their master passed and died. They placed him in a coffin and carrying

him they brought him to the church, which he had built and buried him there

with honour and glory, by the hand of archbishop ’abbā ’Atnātewos. May his

prayer and his intercession be with his servant NN forever and ever. Amen.

Hear, my beloved, the story of your father. Neither have I composed it nor

looked for it nor lied, but so as not to abrogate it I didn’t add [anything] except

this little with which I praised my testimony about Yəmrəhanna Krəstos, his

lord.

While I was walking, I reached the tomb of the blessed Yəmrəhanna

Krəstos, me the sinner, and I saluted the gate of his tomb and I was amazed that

there was no story of him and how to bring it to fulfillment. Being sad, I

lingered until it became evening. I fell asleep for a while. And then a man, grey

and graceful in his face, came to me and told me: I salute you, Zarubābal. I said:

Who are you, my Lord? He told me: I am Yəmrəhanna Krəstos. And he told me

everything and my mind couldn’t encompass that much. The Lord is my

witness, that the time of his life was 99 lunar years. From there until the reign of

Alexander there is 754 years. He narrated it to me but I lingered with writing.

And then he got angry with me and, behold, I revealed to you everything I asked

him, just like he reported it to me and [then] I narrated it to you in order. Forgive

me and bless me.

May he be for us all who lean on him the pupil of the soul from the

whipping trunk of the Devil, shield of victory from the arrow of his anger, tunic

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of grace from his trap for the foolish. When the Unique in the Three comes, he

will put us on his right side with him. Blessed is his flock, when heaven and

earth are removed from his face, when the sinners are reproached by the 7 words

of the Gospel, when the righteous are redeemed by his mercy, may he share for

us his blessings. Thanks to Mary whom he made equal to his flesh with his

divinity. Because of us his flesh is sacrificed every day. Thanks to his blood

which flows from his wounds. Thanks to the prophets, his witnesses and

apostles. Thanks to Yəmrəhanna Krəstos the blessed, who gave pleasure by his

virtue. May we have a share in his heritage, that we can be under his shadow,

verily not through our work in vain but through our assembling at the time of his

rest in Wagra Səþin, his monastery. May the reward for your righteous be

doubled and for the sinners may their sins be forgiven and may his glory lighten

the splendor in our hearts forever and ever. Amen.

Praise be to the Lord that he made me finish with joy this book of the vita

of Yəmrəha, when we were in the country of Rohā. This book was written in the

town of Warwar, which is Dabra Rohā, the city of the great Lālibalā in the year

5500 of the world, which is 1000 and…27 year of grace, in the era of Luke. It

was finished in the month of maskaram …7 in the fourth year of the reign of the

emperor Hayla Śəllāse.

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