Rasta Man & Woman. By www.TerrySoloman.com

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The KEBRA NAGAST

Or

The Queen of Sheba, and Her Only Son Menyelek (I)

THE 'BOOK OF THE GLORY OF KINGS' (KEBRA NAGAST), IS THE HISTORY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE RELIGION OF THE HEBREWS IN ETHIOPIA. THE KEBRA NAGAST IS THE PATENT OF SOVEREIGNTY,  NOW UNIVERSALLY ACCEPTED IN ABYSSINIA AS THE SYMBOL OF THE DIVINE AUTHORITY TO RULE WHICH THE KINGS OF THE SOLOMONIC LINE, RECEIVED THROUGH THEIR DESCENT FROM THE HOUSE OF DAVID.


What follows are chapters 49 - 55 of The KEBRA NAGAST. We will post more chapters in two-weeks! There are 117 chapters.

49. How his Father blessed his Son

And then the King of ETHIOPIA rose up to depart to his country, and he came to his father that he might pray on his behalf, and he said unto him, "Bless me, father"; and he made obeisance unto him. And the King raised him up, and blessed him, and embraced his head, and said, "Blessed be the Lord my God Who blessed my father DAVID, and Who blessed our father ABRAHAM. May He be with thee always, and bless thy seed even as He blessed JACOB, and made his seed to be as many as the stars of heaven and the sand of the sea. And as ABRAHAM blessed ISAAC my father even so shall thy blessing be—the dew of heaven and the spaciousness of the earth—and may all animals and all the birds of the heavens, and all the beasts of the field, and the fish of the sea, be in subjection unto thee. Be thou full, and not lacking in fullness; be thou perfect, and not lacking in perfection; be gracious, and not obstinate; be in good health, and not suffering; be generous, and not vindictive; be pure, and not defiled; be righteous, and not a sinner; be merciful, and not oppressive; be sincere, and not perverse; be long-suffering, and not prone to wrath. And the enemy shall be afraid of thee, and thine adversaries shall cast p. 73 themselves under the sole of thy foot. And my Lady ZION, the holy and heavenly, the Tabernacle of the Law of God, shall be a guide unto thee at all times, a guide in respect of what thou shouldst think in thy heart and shouldst do with thy fingers, whether it be far or near to thee, whether it be low or high to thee, whether it be strong or weak to thee, whether it be outside or inside thee, whether it be to thee in the house or in the field, whether it be visible or invisible to thee, whether it be away from or near to thee, whether it be hidden from or revealed to thee, whether it be secret or published abroad to thee—unto thee our Lady ZION, the holy and heavenly, the pure Tabernacle of the Law of God, shall be a guide." And DAVID was blessed, and he made obeisance, and departed.

50. How they bade farewell to his Father and how the city mourned

And they bade [the king] farewell and departed. And first of all they set ZION by night upon a wagon together with a mass of worthless stuff, and dirty clothes, and stores of every sort and kind. And [when] all the wagons were loaded, and the masters of the caravan rose up, and the horn was blown, and the city became excited, and the youths shouted loudly, awesomeness crowned it and grace surrounded it (i.e., ZION). And the old men wailed, and the children cried out, and the widows wept, and the virgins lamented, because the sons of their nobles, the mighty men of ISRAEL, had risen up to depart. But the city did not weep for them alone, but because the majesty of the city had been carried off with them. And although they did not know actually that ZION had been taken from them, they made no mistake in their hearts and they wept bitterly; and they were then even as they were when God slew the firstborn of EGYPT. There was not a house wherein there was not wailing, from man even to the beast; the dogs p. 74 howled, and the asses screamed, and all those who were left there mingled their tears together. It was as though the generals of a mighty army had besieged the great city, and had captured it by assault, and looted it, and taken its people prisoners and slain them with the edge of the sword; even thus was that city of ZION—JERUSALEM.

And King SOLOMON was dismayed at the weeping and outcry of the city, and he looked out from the roof of the palace, the fort of the king's house, and saw the whole city weeping and following them. And as a child, whom his mother hath removed from her breast and left, followeth in her footsteps crying out and weeping, even so did the people cry out and weep; and they cast dust upon their heads, and they shed tears with their eyes. And when SOLOMON saw the majesty of those who had departed, he was deeply moved and he trembled, and his bowels quaked, and his tears fell drop by drop upon his apparel, and he said, "Woe is me! for my glory hath departed, and the crown of my splendour hath fallen, and my belly is burned up because this my son hath departed, and the majesty of my city and the freemen, the children of my might, are removed. From this moment our glory hath passed away, and our kingdom hath been carried off unto a strange people who know not God, even as the prophet saith, 'The people who have not sought Me have found Me.'¹ From this time forth the law, and wisdom, and understanding shall be given unto them. And my father prophesied concerning them, saying, 'ETHIOPIA shall bow before Him, and His enemies shall eat the dust.'² And in another [place] he saith, 'ETHIOPIA shall stretch out her hands to God, and He shall receive her with honour, and the kings of the earth shall praise God.'³ And in a third [place] he saith, 'Behold, the PHILISTINES,⁴ and the p. 75 Tyrians, and the people of ETHIOPIA, who were born without the Law. The Law shall be given unto them, and they shall say unto ZION, 'our mother¹ because of a man who shall be born.' Will this man then be my son who is begotten of me?"

51. How he said unto ZADOK the Priest, "Go and bring the Covering (or, Clothing) which is upon it (i.e., ZION)"

And he said unto ZADOK the priest, "Go, bring that covering which is upon ZION, and take thee this covering which is better than that, and lay it over the two [coverings] which are below it." (Now this covering was made of threads of the finest gold wirework twisted together and hammered out into a pattern, and they were not woven like the threads of purple.) "And the five mice² which were given to ZION, and the ten³ figures of their shame (i.e., the emerods) which the nobles of the PHILISTINES made for their redemption—now on the fringes are figures of gold that came forth from the land of ?ÂDÊS, which MOSES in SINAI commanded should be made (or, worked) in the fringe of the apparel of AARON his brother—gather [all these] together in the covering of ZION and give [them] to my son DAVID. For his mother said in [her] message by TÂMRÎN her servant, 'Give us some of the fringe of the covering of ZION, so that we may worship it, we and those who are in subjection unto us and all our kingdom.' And now, give it to him, and say unto him, 'Take [and] worship this covering of ZION, for thy mother sent a message concerning this, and hath said unto thee thyself, 'Give us some of the fringe of its covering, which we can worship, so that we may not, like the heathen, worship another [god].' And ZION, the Tabernacle of the Law of God, shall be unto thee a guide wheresoever thou art. p. 76 But it must remain with us perpetually, although we have not paid it all the honour which is its due; and you, although it be not with you, must honour it, and revere it according to what is due to it and what is meet. For God said unto ELI by the mouth of SAMUEL the Prophet, 'I wished you to remain, thou and thy father's house, to offer up incense to the Tabernacle of My Law, and to dwell before Me for ever, but now I have repented. I will turn My face away from thee because thou hast treated My offerings with contempt, and hast preferred thy sons to Me. And now, him that honoureth Me I will honour, and him that esteemeth Me lightly I will esteem lightly; and I will destroy all thy seed.'¹ This He said because the LEVITES had esteemed Him lightly. And say unto him: Take this covering of ZION, and this votive gift shall be in the place of it, and place it in thy sanctuary. And when thou takest an oath and makest another to take an oath, swear thou and make him to swear by it, so that thou dost not make mention of the names of other gods of the heathen. And when thou sacrificest let thy face be towards us, and sacrifice to JERUSALEM and the holy ZION; and when thou prayest let thy face be towards JERUSALEM, and pray towards us."

52. How ZADOK the Priest Departed

And ZADOK the priest went and gave DAVID the covering of ZION, and he delivered unto him all the commands which SOLOMON had spoken. And DAVID, the son of SOLOMON, rejoiced because of this, and he marvelled and held himself to be blessed exceedingly, and said, when the covering of the Tabernacle of the Law of God was committed to his charge, "This shall be to me my Lady." And AZÂRYÂS answered and said before his father, "Thou rejoicest over the covering, but how very much more wilt thou rejoice over the Lady of the p. 77 covering!" And his father said unto him, "Verily he rejoiceth over the Lady of the covering, and he might subjugate all of us if he were not going to his own country." And he said unto the king, "Make now a covenant with me that thou wilt give to this my son this possession for his Lady and his sponsor and his protection, that he may guard it all the days of his life, for himself and for his seed after him; and that thou wilt give him tithe, and that thou wilt give him a city of refuge in thy kingdom, and also the tenth of the cities in all thy kingdom; and that he shall be unto thee priest, and seer, and prophet, and teacher to thee and to thy seed after thee, and the anointer with oil of thy kingdom for thy children and thy children's children." And he said, "I agree." And they struck (i.e., made) a covenant, and he received from his father the votive offering, and the covering of ZION, and a chain of gold.

And they loaded the wagons, and the horses, and the mules in order to depart, and they set out on their journey prosperously, and they continued to travel on. And MICHAEL the [Arch] Angel marched in front, and he spread out [his wings] and made them to march through the sea as upon dry land, and upon the dry land he cut a path for them and spreading himself out like a cloud over them he hid them from the fiery heat of the sun. And as for their wagons, no man hauled his wagon, but he himself (i.e., MICHAEL) marched with the wagons, and whether it was men, or horses, or mules, or loaded camels, each was raised above the ground to the height of a cubit; and all those who rode upon beasts were lifted up above their backs to the height of one span of a man, and all the various kinds of baggage which were loaded on the beasts, as well as those who were mounted on them, were raised up to the height of one span of a man, and the beasts were lifted up to the height of one span of a man. And every one travelled in the wagons p. 78 like a ship on the sea when the wind bloweth, and like a bat through the air when the desire of his belly urgeth him to devour his companions, and like an eagle when his body glideth above the wind. Thus did they travel; there was none in front and none behind, and they were disturbed neither on the right hand nor on the left.

53. How the Wagon was given to ETHIOPIA

And they halted by GÂZÂ, the city of the mother of the king, which SOLOMON the king had given to the Queen of ETHIOPIA when she came to him. And from there they came in one day to the border of GEBE?. (EGYPT), the name of which is "MESRÎN". And when the sons of the warriors of ISRAEL saw that they had come in one day a distance of thirteen days' march, and that they were not tired, or hungry, or thirsty, neither man nor beast, and that they all [felt] that they had eaten and drunk their fill, these sons of the warriors of ISRAEL knew and believed that this thing was from God. And they said unto their king, "Let us let down the wagons, for we have come to the water of ETHIOPIA. This is the TAKKAZÎ which floweth down from ETHIOPIA, and watereth the Valley of EGYPT"; and they let down their wagons there, and set up their tents.

And the sons of the warriors of ISRAEL went and drove away all the people, and they said unto [DAVID] their king, "Shall we tell thee a matter? Canst thou hold it [secret]?" And the King said unto them, "Yes, I can [hold it secret]. And if ye will tell it to me I will never let it go forth or repeat it to the day of my death." And they said unto him, "The sun descended from heaven, and was given on SINAI to ISRAEL, and it became the salvation of the race of ADAM, from MOSES to the seed of JESSE, and behold, it is with thee by the Will of God. It is not through us that this hath been done, but by the Will of God; it is not through us that this p. 79 hath been done, but by the Will of Him that fashioned it and made it hath this happened. We wished, and God hath fulfilled [our wish]; we agreed concerning it, and God made it good; we held converse [concerning it], and God performed; we meditated [upon it], and God devised the plan; we spoke, and God was well pleased; we directed our gaze, and God directed it rightly; we meditated, and God hath justified. And now God hath chosen thee, and is well pleased with thy city, to be the servant of the holy and heavenly ZION, the Tabernacle of the Law of God; and it shall be to thee a guide for ever, to thee and thy seed after thee if thou wilt keep His command and perform the Will of the Lord thy God. For thou wilt not be able to take it back, even if thou wishest, and thy father cannot seize it, even if he wisheth, for it goeth of its own free will whithersoever it wisheth, and it cannot be removed from its seat if it doth not desire it. And behold, it is our Lady, our Mother and our salvation, our fortress and our place of refuge, our glory and the haven of our safety, to those who lean upon it."

And AZÂRYÂS made a sign to ÊLMEYÂS, and he said unto him, "Go, beautify, and dress our Lady, so that our King may see her." And when AZÂRYÂS had said this, King DAVID was perturbed and he laid both hands upon his breast, and he drew breath three times and said, "Hast thou in truth, O Lord, remembered us in Thy mercy, the castaways, the people whom Thou hast rejected, so that I may see Thy pure habitation, which is in heaven, the holy and heavenly ZION? With what shall we requite the Lord in return for all the good things which He hath done for us? there being with Him no glory and praise! He hath crowned us with His grace, so that we may know upon earth His praise and may all serve Him according to His greatness. For He is the Good One to His chosen ones, and unto Him belongeth praise for ever."

p. 80

And King [DAVID] rose up and skipped about like a young sheep and like a kid of the goats that hath sucked milk in abundance from his mother, even as his grandfather DAVID rejoiced before the Tabernacle of the Law of God. He smote the ground with his feet, and rejoiced in his heart, and uttered cries of joy with his mouth. And what shall I say of the great joy and gladness that were in the camp of the King of ETHIOPIA? One man told his neighbour, and they smote the ground with their feet like young bulls, and they clapped their hands together, and marvelled, and stretched out their hands to heaven, and they cast themselves down with their faces to the ground, and they gave thanks unto God in their hearts.

54. How DAVID [the King of ETHIOPIA] Prophesied and Saluted ZION

And King [DAVID] came and stood up before ZION, and he saluted it, and made obeisance thereto, and said, "O Lord God of ISRAEL, to Thee be praise, because Thou doest Thy Will and not the will of men. Thou makest the wise man to forget his wisdom, and Thou destroyest the counsel of the counsellor, and Thou raisest the poor man from the depth, and Thou settest the sole of his foot upon a strong rock. For a full cup of glory is in Thy hand for those who love Thee, and a full cup of shame for those who hate Thee. As for us, our salvation shall go forth out of ZION, and He shall remove sin from His people, and goodness and mercy shall be poured out in all the world. For we are the work of His hands, and who shall rebuke us if He loveth us as ISRAEL His people? And who shall reprove Him if He raiseth us up to heaven His throne? For death and life are from Him, and glory and dishonour are in His hand, He hath the power to punish and to multiply His compassion, and He can be wroth and multiply His mercy, for it is He who trieth the heart and the reins. p. 81 He giveth and He taketh away, He planteth and He uprooteth. He buildeth up and He throweth down. He beautifieth and He deformeth; for everything belongeth to Him, and everything is from Him, and everything existeth in Him. And as for thee, O Tabernacle of the Law of God, salvation be whither thou goest, and from the place whence thou goest forth; salvation be in the house and in the field, salvation be here and be there, salvation be in the palace and in the lowly place, salvation be on the sea and on the dry land, salvation be in the mountains and in the hills, salvation be in the heavens and on the earth, salvation be in the firm grounds and in the abysses, salvation be in death and in life, salvation be in thy coming and in thy going forth, salvation be to our children and to the tribe of thy people, salvation be in thy countries and in thy cities, salvation be to the kings and to the nobles, salvation be to the plants and to the fruits, salvation be to men and to beasts, salvation be to the birds and to the creeping things of the earth; be salvation, be an intercessor, and a merciful one, and have regard for thy people. Be unto us a wall, and we will be unto thee a fence; be thou a king unto us and we will be thy people; be thou a guide unto us and we will follow after thee. And be not impatient, and mark not closely, and be not angry at the multitude of our sins, for we are a people who have not the Law, and who have not learned Thy praise. And from this time forward guide us, and teach us, and make us to have understanding, and make us to have wisdom that we may learn Thy praise. And Thy name shall be praised by us at all times, and all the day, and every day, and every night, and every hour, and all the length of time. Give us power that we may serve Thee. Rise up, ZION, and put on thy strength, and conquer thine enemies, and give us strength, our queen, and put thou to shame those who hate thee, and make to rejoice those who love thee."

p. 82

And then he made a circuit and said, "Behold ZION, behold salvation, behold the one who rejoiceth, behold the splendour like the sun, behold the one adorned with praise, behold the one who is decorated like a bride, not with the apparel of fleeting glory, but the one who is decorated with the glory and praise which are from God, whom it is meet that [men] shall look upon with desire and shall not forsake; whom [men] shall desire above all things and shall not reject; whom [men] shall love willingly and shall not hate; whom [men] shall approach willingly and shall not keep afar off. We will draw nigh unto thee, and do not thou withdraw far from us; we will support ourselves upon thee, and do not thou let us slip away; we will supplicate thee, and do not thou be deaf to us; we will cry out to thee; hear thou our cry in all that we ask of thee, and desire not to withdraw thyself from us, until thy Lord cometh and reigneth over thee; for thou art the habitation of the God of heaven."

Thus spake DAVID the King, the son of SOLOMON, King of ISRAEL. For the spirit of prophecy descended upon him because of his joy, and he knew not what he said and he was like PETER and JOHN on the top of Mount TÂBÔR.¹ And they all marvelled and said, "This, the son of a prophet, is he to be numbered among the prophets?"

55. How the People of ETHIOPIA Rejoiced

And [the people of ETHIOPIA] took flutes, and blew horns, and [beat] drums, and [played on] pipes, and the Brook of EGYPT was moved and astonished at the noise of their songs and their rejoicings; and with them were mingled outcries and shouts of gladness. And their idols, which they had made with their hands and which were in the forms of men, and dogs, and cats, fell down, and the high towers (pylons or obelisks ?), and also the p. 83 figures of birds, [made] of gold and silver, fell down also and were broken in pieces. For ZION shone like the sun, and at the majesty thereof they were dismayed. And they arrayed ZION in her apparel, and they bore the gifts to her before her, and they set her upon a wagon, and they spread out purple beneath her, and they draped her with draperies of purple, and they sang songs before her and behind her.

Then the wagons rose up (i.e., resumed their journey) as before, and they set out early in the morning, and the people sang songs to ZION, and they were all raised up the space of a cubit, and as the people of the country of EGYPT bade them farewell, they passed before them like shadows, and the people of the country of EGYPT worshipped them, for they saw ZION moving in the heavens like the sun, and they all ran with the wagon of ZION, some in front of her and some behind her. And they came to the sea AL-A?MAR, which is the Sea of ERITREA (i.e., the RED SEA), which was divided by the hand of MOSES, and the children of ISRAEL marched in the depths thereof, going up and down. Now at that time the Tabernacle of the Law of God had not been given unto MOSES, and therefore the water only gathered itself together, a wall on the right hand and a wall on the left, and allowed ISRAEL to pass with their beasts and their children and their wives. And after they had crossed the sea God spake to MOSES and gave him the Tabernacle of the Covenant with the Book of the Law. And when the holy ZION crossed over with those who were in attendance on her, and who sang songs to the accompaniment of harps and flutes, the sea received them and its waves leaped up as do the high mountains when they are split asunder, and it roared even as a lion roareth when he is enraged, and it thundered as doth the winter thunder of DAMASCUS and ETHIOPIA when the lightning smiteth the clouds, and the sound thereof mingled with the sounds of the musical instruments. p. 84 And the sea worshipped ZION. And whilst its billows were tossing about like the mountains their wagons were raised above the waves for a space of three cubits, and among the sound of the songs the [noise of the] breaking of the waves of the sea was wonderful. The breaking of the waves of the sea was exceedingly majestic and stupefying, and it was mighty and strong. And the creatures that were in the sea, those that could be recognized, and those that were invisible, came forth and worshipped ZION; and the birds that were on it flapped their pinions and overshadowed it. And there was joy to the Sea of ERITREA, and to the people of ETHIOPIA, who went forth to the sea and rejoiced exceedingly, and with a greater joy than did ISRAEL when they came out of EGYPT. And they arrived opposite Mount SINAI, and dwelt in ?ÂDÊS, and they remained there whilst the angels sang praises; and the creatures of the spirit mingled their praises with [those] of the children of earth, with songs, and psalms, and tambourines joyfully.

And then they loaded their wagons, and they rose up, and departed, and journeyed on to the land of MEDYÂM, and they came to the country of BÊLÔNTÔS, which is a country of ETHIOPIA. And they rejoiced there, and they encamped there, because they had reached the border of their country with glory and joy, without tribulation on the road, in a wagon of the spirit, by the might of heaven and of MICHAEL the Archangel. And all the provinces of ETHIOPIA rejoiced, for ZION sent forth a light like that of the sun into the darkness wheresoever she came.

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RASTAFARI FAST FACTS:

Date Founded: Generally said to be November 2, 1930, the year Emperor Hailie Selassie I (1892-1975) was crowned, but based in a movement of the 1920s.

Founded By: Marcus Garvey (1887-1940), a black Jamaican who taught in the 1920s and is considered a second John the Baptist

Followers of the Rastafari movement are known as Rastafarians, Rastafaris, Rastas, or Ras Tafarians. The movement is named for Ras Tafari Makonnen, who was crowned Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia in 1930.

Rastafaris dislike the term "Rastafarianism" because they reject the "isms and schisms" that characterize oppressive and corrupt white society. The movement is referred to as "the Rastafari movement," "Rasta," or "Rastafari."

Emperor Hailie Selassie I


The Rastafari movement or Rastafarianism is a "messianic religio-political movement" 1 that began in the Jamaican slums in the 1920s and 30s. The most famous Rastafari is Bob Marley, whose reggae music gained the Jamaican movement international recognition. There is significant variation within the Rastafari movement and no formal organization. Some Rastafarians see Rasta more as a way of life than a religion. But uniting the diverse movement is belief in the divinity and/or messiahship of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I, the influence of Jamaican culture, resistance of oppression, and pride in African heritage. The Rastafarian lifestyle usually includes ritual use of marijuana, avoidance of alcohol, the wearing of one's hair in dreadlocks, and vegetarianism.

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