15 October 2025

Soms 124–139

124

Yahweh is praiseworthy, because he has saved us from the teeth of our enemies.

Our soul has escaped like a songbird out of the snare of the fowlers. The trap is broken, and we are fled.


125

Whoever trusts in Yahweh shall be like a statue that remains standing throughout all ages.

Just as ranges of mountains surround our Parisian God-house, so Yahweh’s phantom rises up like a giant wall around the caravan forever, and follows it everywhere it goes.

Do good, O Yahweh, unto those who are good.


126

When Yahweh set us free from our imprisonment, at first we thought that we were dreaming. Then we started to laugh, and then we were singing. People residing in the neighborhood around where we were imprisoned said one to another: “Yahweh must have done great things for those escaped prisoners, because they seem glad.”

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

He that goes forth weeping while planting seed shall come back rejoicing when bringing in the sheaves.


127

If Yahweh himself does not build the house, then the builders who build it build it to no purpose. If Yahweh himself does not police the city, then the police that police it police it to no purpose.

It is vain for you to rise early or to work late. Only Yahweh himself can do anything effectively.


128

A wife is a gift from God: a help meet for you. Children are a gift from God: fruit of the womb.

Happy is the married man who has a wain full of little ones mewling.

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine by the side of your house; your children like olive plants round about your table.


129

The plowers plowed my back: they made long furrows. Let them wither prematurely, like the grass upon the housetops.


130

If you were to punish sin, O Yahweh, then who would be left standing! But you are merciful, forgiving all who ask in earnest.

My soul waits for Yahweh more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.

Let all wayfarers hope in Yahweh, for with Yahweh is plenteous redemption.


131

I never try to grasp matters beyond what our rulers deem it safe to know: I behave obediently, like a chastened child, and accept their propaganda.


132

The priests tell us that David shall govern forever.

His enemies shall be drowned in shame, but God shall put an aureole on David’s head.


133

(A som for the Eternal Christ Bryan, 
King of Kings of America.)

How pleasant it is for all nations to dwell together in unity!

It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Bryan’s great beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments; just as Sinai’s magma oozed over the mountainsides, when Yahweh commanded the blessing: LIFE FOREVERMORE.


134

All you who stand at night outdoors, raise your arms. Freeze! Yahweh is going to search you.


135

Yahweh is enormous. All the other gods fit inside Yahweh.

Whatsoever Yahweh desired, he accomplished: in heaven, on earth, in the seas, and all deep places. He caused smoke to ascend from the edges of the earth. He made lightnings to go with the rain. He brought the wind out of his treasuries.

He murdered all the firstborn of Egypt, both human and beast.

Think about it.


136

Praise Yahweh, who gives food to all flesh. His goodness is endless.


137

By the river in Wonderland, we sat down and wept, remembering Eldorado.

We hanged our blue guitars in the midst of the willows.

For Ozymandias, our aggressor, came over and demanded a song of us: “Sing a happy one,” he said.

How can we trill a jingle in four-part harmony on the blue guitar, when we are so sad?

If I forget you, O caravan, let my right hand forget how to hold a pen. If I do not remember you, let all the breath in my frame escape away and be afraid to return. I hold Sweet Beulah Land above my chief joy.

Recall, O Yahweh, how the enemy’s generals entered Eldorado, and instructed their shock-troops: “Kidnap the population!”

All you Wonderlanders shall be repaid by the Golden Rule. Blessed be the judge who treats you as you treated your neighbors.


138

I will praise you with my whole heart. Before the gods shall I sing praise unto you.

In the day when I cried out, you answered me, and added a support beam to my soul.

All the rulers of the world shall praise Yahweh, when they hear the words of his mouth.

Although Yahweh is very high, he respects the lowly; and he has a secret plan to dismantle those who are arrogant.

I can walk right through trouble, and your hands push all my enemies away.

Yahweh will perfect every element that concerns me.


139

Holy Officer, you have searched me; you know my contents. You have mapped my downsitting and my uprising. You grasp my thoughts before I even think them. You have memorized my daily routine. Everything I’ve ever said, you have a recording of it. You have beset me behind and before, and clamped my head with your claw. I don’t understand how you did all this; you really got me.

How could I escape your perception? Where could I go to hide from your awareness? Your presence is everywhere; you are the all-seeing eye; your spirit fills the world. If I climb a ladder to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, there you are; if I sail on the wings of the morning to go and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there I encounter you, and your gloved hand clutches my neck. If I say: “Surely the darkness will cover me,” lo, you possess night-vision. Pitch blackness cannot obscure me from your sight, not even thick fog: it’s all the same, because you also possess heat-vision. You have gained the fullest grip on my reins: you hold all the strings of my puppet. You’ve steered my fate since my mother’s womb.

Therefore, I will praise you. What choice do I have? For this marvelous achievement, my soul congratulates you: I am fearfully and wonderfully dominated.

You keep a list of my ingredients in your database; for you conducted the operation, when you devised my being in your lab; I was curiously fashioned in the lowest parts of the earth. You beheld my essence when it was still unperfect; you diagrammed all my members in your book; you revised and continued to fabricate my soul, when it was yet nothing.

Now I exist, generating more thoughts than the sands of the sea, and you save them all: how great is the sum! Your whim is my bidding, O God: I was concocted to please you.

Do I not hate them that hate you? Yes, surely, I hate them with perfect hatred: I deem them my enemies.

14 October 2025

Soms 110–123

110

Yahweh said to the president: wait here, while I change your foes into ashes of smoke.

Yahweh went with his sword blazing, right in the midst of your enemies.

The populace shall be willing in the day of your power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: you drip with the dew of your youth.

Yahweh will not renege on what he swore, when he anointed you as Eternal Magus of Elyon, the Supreme God, alongside Jesus the Nazarene, Enoch Metatron, and the legendary Melchizedek, who is King Bryan from Jupiter, these scrolls’ holy ghostwriter.

Lord Yahweh shall stand at your right hand. He shall clear a path for you.

When he clears this path, he shall leave a trail of corpses.

So, drink from the spring of the rock, and hold your head high.


111

I will praise Yahweh with my whole heart, because his wonders are great, and they give me great pleasure to look at. His works are honorable and glorious. He feeds whoever is hungry. He never breaks a contract. Yahweh gives an ornate rug to one man; then pulls it out from beneath him, and offers the ornate rug to another man: yet no one can fault him, because Yahweh owns the rug, both men, and gravity. You die before you can point out the Lord GOD’s fault.

Here is how to start on the path to wisdom. Step one: Fear Yahweh. For you can’t be wise if you’re not alive.


112

Happy is the man who loves the Volcano. His seed will overrun the earth. Wealth and riches shall fill his house.

And he shall give away all these treasures: then his righteousness shall endure forever.

The wicked shall see this and be grieved: he shall gnash his teeth, and melt away.


113

Praise Yahweh from sunup to sundown.

Yahweh God’s dwelling place is so high up that he must look down to behold the things that are in heaven!

He raises the poor out of the earth, and lifts the needy out of the dust. He makes them equal to princes.

He makes the barren woman to be a joyful mother of children. Praise the god Yahweh.


114

The wayfarers were once the workforce of the Ancient Empire. That land spoke a very strange language.

Then they left: they walked away from their labor; they abandoned their oppressors.

The sea saw it, and fled. The Red Ocean split.

The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.

What ailed you, O sea, that made you run away? What caused you to split, Red Ocean?

You mountains, why did you skip about like rams; and you little hills, like lambs?

Shake in your boots, O earth, when you see the Lord Yahweh. For he makes the waters stand firm like dry rock; and he makes the dry rock gush forth waters.


115

We wayfarers do not deserve glory; the glory is due to the name of Yahweh.

Why should atheists be able to say: “Where is God? I see no God.”

Our God is in the heavens. He hides behind the sky. He does whatever he pleases. He will show himself if he wishes to show himself. But he loves being absent.

The idols of Yahweh are silver and gold. They are not Yahweh: they only bear his likeness and image. They have mouths that don’t speak; eyes that don’t see; ears that don’t hear; noses that don’t smell; hands that don’t grasp; feet that don’t walk; and throats that don’t moan, unless Yahweh’s spirit indwells them. They are like man before God breathed into his clayey nostrils.

So, don’t trust in appearances: trust in the invisible animator of appearances. That’s where the magic happens: behind the scenes.

The dead cannot praise the LORD till his spirit revives them. Think about it.


116

I love Yahweh, because he listens to me and gives me what I request. He bends his ear down close to my lips, and I whisper my wildest desires.

I found myself whirlpooled by the sorrows of death, and the pains of hell had clinched me and were thrusting. All this was uncomfortable. So I called upon Yahweh: “O Yahweh, save my soul!” And he whisked me away.

Now I say: the god Yahweh is gracious and righteous and merciful. He preserves the simple: I am living proof. For I was brought low, and he helped me.

Return to your rest, O my soul, because Yahweh has dealt bountifully with you. He delivered my flesh from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.


117

Praise Yahweh, everyone everywhere, for his endless goodness.


118

O give thanks to Yahweh, the infinitely merciful, for his endless goodness.

Let the caravansary echo his endless goodness.

Let Bryan from Jupiter echo his endless goodness.

Let everyone who loves the LORD echo his endless goodness.

I was in distress, so I called to Yahweh, and he set me in a large place.

Yahweh stands on my side; now I am fearless: How could any man hurt me?

Yahweh favors me, he takes my part in the argument; therefore, I shall have my way with my enemies.

It is better to trust Yahweh than to put confidence in earthlings. It is better to trust Yahweh than to put confidence in powerful moguls.

All the nations of the globe surrounded me, but with the help of Yahweh I will destroy them.

They circled about me like bees; they kept stinging me with their fiery thorns; they thrust fiercely at me, so that I almost fell. But Yahweh helped me.

Yahweh performs valiantly in battle. Now I shall not die, but live. For this reason, I declare Yahweh to be the best god.

Yahweh shall build the tallest temple upon this stone that all of you builders rejected.

Yahweh does wonders. Yahweh is marvelous.

This is the day that Yahweh has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. God is Yahweh, who has showed us light. His goodness is endless.


119

I am like a bottle filled with smoke, because I do not forget your statutes, O Lord Yahweh. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep your precepts.

A is for Allah.

B is for BAAL.

C is for Chaos.

D is for Devil.

E is for Elohims.

F is for Fulness.

G is for gods.

H is for Heaven & Hell.

I is for Ialdabaoth.

J is for Jehovah.

K is for Khristos.

L is for LORD.

M is for Mazzaroth.

N is for Nobodaddy.

O is for Oracle.

P is for Potential.

Q is for Qoheleth.

R is for Rap.

S is for Shaddai.

T is for Thummim.

U is for Urim.

V is for Volcano.

W is for Wilderness.

X is for Xmas.

Y is for Yahweh.

Z is for Zealot.


120

Woe is me, that I live in a place that hates peace.

I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.


121

I keep my eyes upon the hills over yonder, because that is where I believe that my god will appear.

My god is Yahweh, who made heaven and earth. He never sleeps.


122

I was glad when my friends said to me: “Let us visit the Temple of the Hairy One.”

Pray for the peace of Eldorado. God grant prosperity to the caravan.


123

Dear God, when will you come and help us, here on earth? Have mercy on us, for we are bursting with contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled with scorn for the prideful who are at ease.

I am looking at you, O you who dwell in the heavens. I see you up there, just as a servant espies his master through the high window. My eye is fixed upon you.

13 October 2025

The Story of Esther

Chapter 1

Here is a story about the wayfarers from the caravansary who remained in Wonderland.

Long after Ozymandias ended his term as the president of Wonderland, a man named Tyrannosaurus became the rex.

Now after Tyrannosaurus had governed for three years, he threw a feast, to celebrate the beauties of life. He invited all the princes and servants in Wonderland. His great treasures were brought out of storage and displayed, with the riches of his glorious kingdom and his excellent majesty. The feast lasted seven days, and it continued round the clock; everyone attended, great and small. The banquet took place in the court of the garden of the palace. There were white, green, and blue hangings, fastened to silver rings and pillars of alabaster with cords of fine linen and purple wool; the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black marble. Everyone drank out of golden grails, and royal wine was in abundance: the rex ordered that all cups be continually refilled, and a law was passed that said: Each person must drink a good deal more than enough. And all the banqueters were encouraged to do according to every soul’s pleasure.

Also the queen’s name was Vashti. While her husband Rex Tyrannosaur was having his great feast, Vashti was having a counter-feast for ladies only. She lived in the palazzo next-door to the mansion of the rex; so that’s where she was, with all her female friends.

Now, on the seventh day, when the heart of the rex was merry with wine, he instructed his robotic chamberlains to fetch Queen Vashti: “Lift her up with your hands,” said Tyrannosaur, “and bring her away from that all-girl counter-feast; then set her down over here at my banquet: right on top of this very table, where everyone can see her. For she is so beautiful, I wish to show her off, so that all of Wonderland can perceive how fair she is to look at. I will command her to disrobe.”

So the rex’s robo-chamberlains, whose names were Mehuman, Bigtha, Harbona, and Carcas, went to confiscate the queen.

But when the robo-chamberlains came near, Vashti the queen slapped them all away. And when they explained what their mission was, relaying the instructions that the rex had given them, Queen Vashti told them to return emptyhanded with the answer: “She refuses.”

So the robo-chamberlains obeyed the queen. This made Tyrannosaurus irate, and his anger burned within him. So he asked his team of lawyers, who were with him at the table, and said: “What are my legal options, here? I’m the highest ruler of the nation: Don’t I have the right to force my wife to pose unclothed before the populace?”

And the lawyers answered: “Vashti the queen has not only wronged Your Majesty, O rex, but she has committed a crime against every husband in Wonderland: for now all wives will hear of the queen’s misdeed, and they shall emulate its evil. This shall stir up much contempt and wrath.”

Then Tyrannosaurus said: “So, what can be done?”

The lawyers answered: “Our constitution addresses this issue specifically – it says: ‘If the queen refuses to strip and cavort in public, she shall be jettisoned and replaced.’ Therefore, as soon as you wish, you can begin your nationwide search for a swankier wife.”

This news pleased the rex, so Tyrannosaur acted according to his lawyers’ advice. He placed huge billboards in every province of Wonderland, and he caused his Royal Airforce to drop pamphlets on the populace, all bearing the following message:

WANTED! 
New Beauty Queen 
(must be generous) 

Chapter 2

Rex Tyrannosaur appointed officers to go throughout all the provinces of Wonderland, gathering up all the fair young virgins for the New Queen Search. And all these contestants were brought to the Royal Palace, and lodged in the Boudoir of the Damsels, under the custody of the robo-chamberlains.

Now there was a staffer at the palace who was an adherent of the volcano of potential. His name was Mordecai. And he was the guardian of an orphan named Esther. This damsel was fair and beautiful. So it came to pass, when the New Queen Search began to be advertised, and many maidens were gathered into the palace where he worked, that Mordecai decided to enter his foster daughter Esther into the contest: therefore, he handed her over to the robo-chamberlain Carcas.

Carcas the robo-chamberlain took Esther to the Boudoir of Damsels, and he treated her with kindness, and helped her to look as pretty as possible, so that she might impress the rex.

Esther did not reveal that she was a prophetess of the Volcano, for her guardian Mordecai had charged her to keep that fact a secret.

Now the staffer Mordecai strolled every day before the court of the Boudoir of Damsels, to look in and see how Esther was doing. He was hoping that she would win the pageant and become the new beauty queen.

Now when every maid’s turn came to go in and meet with Rex Tyrannosaur, who was the sole judge of the pageant (for it was his own wife he was selecting), each respective contestant would be anointed with sweet odors, and sprinkled with glitter. Then, after the meeting, the damsel would be brought to a second harem, different from the place where she stayed with the robo-chamberlains; and whoever the rex desired to see again, he would call her back by name.

Now when Esther’s turn came to go in unto the rex, she heeded the advice of the robo-chamberlain Carcas, who stressed the importance of being earnest. Thus did Esther obtain favor in the sight of everyone who looked upon her.

So Esther was taken unto Rex Tyrannosaur in his Royal Room. And Tyrannosaurus loved Esther above all the women, and she impressed the rex as more graceful and favorable than all the virgins; so he set the diamond crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.

Then the rex made a great feast for all his princes and servants, and he called it “Esther’s Banquet.” And he declared a general tax amnesty to all the provinces, and gave gifts, as befits a monarch.

During all this, Esther still had not revealed to anyone that she was a prophetess of the volcano of potential, because her guardian Mordecai had instructed her to keep it secret.

Now, at Esther’s Banquet, her guardian Mordecai sat at the royal table; and, over the course of the meal, Mordecai overheard two of the creditors from the inner circle of counselors, Jude and Brute, conspiring to assassinate the rex. So, after the feast, Mordecai revealed this treasonous plot unto his foster child Esther; and Queen Esther briefed her husband Tyrannosaurus on this intel, in her guardian Mordecai’s name. Then, when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found to be true: therefore, the culprits Jude and Brute were given the “Et tu” Punishment: that is, they were both hanged on a tree and stabbed in the back until they burst asunder and all their bowels gushed out.

Chapter 3

After this, Rex Tyrannosaur promoted a man named Ham Face to one of the highest positions of power. So this fellow named Ham Face now outranked all the princes of Wonderland. Therefore, the princes were forced to bow down before Ham Face: such was the lex of the rex.

Now, Mordecai was reckoned among the princes of Wonderland (since his foster daughter Esther was the new queen); but, being an adherent of the Volcano, he was scornful of authority, thus Mordecai refused to bow to Ham Face.

Then the royal servants of Wonderland said to Mordecai: “How dare you transgress Tyrannosaur’s commandment?”

And, reluctantly (for he feared that their misunderstanding would lead to trouble) Mordecai explained to these servants what it meant to host the volcano of potential.

Unfortunately, Mordecai’s doubts about the servants proved all too warranted. For they failed to grasp why he would not simply go along with the group when they all bowed to Ham Face. So, the servants kept importuning Mordecai to elaborate on his stance. But Mordecai held his peace and would not deign to answer further: he simply smiled at the servants who asked, and patted their backs in commiseration. Therefore, the royal servants decided to go tell Ham Face about this odd hangup, to test Mordecai’s antiauthoritarianism.

And when Ham Face saw that this man Mordecai did indeed refrain from bowing, as the servants had said, then Ham Face was filled with wrath. But Ham Face considered it unseemly to confront this insubordinate on his own; wherefore Ham Face said in his heart: “I will blot the man by genociding his people.”

But this plan proved problematic, since Mordecai, being an adherent of the Volcano, held as false such tribal concepts as race and blood; and it was impossible to differentiate the descendants of the caravansary’s wayfarers, since their modus operandi was to mix and mingle and meld: in other words, the true believers in the volcano of potential, wherever they went, assimilated themselves, so the caravan’s onetime captives were now inseparably knit with the Wonderlanders. Therefore, to effectuate his genocidal aim, Mister Ham Face was forced to abstract what seemed to him the quality that set apart his enemy Mordecai; thus he was left asking himself: Precisely what type, if removed as a class, would extinguish this individual? The answer that Ham Face arrived at, however wrongly, was to annihilate all intellectuals.

The question remained: On what day should the mass murder occur? To determine this, Ham Face used a random date generator – that is to say: he cast lots. (The ancient word for “lots” is purim, hence the festival of that name, which exists to commemorate this present story.) Casting lots is like rolling dice; or, rather, like tossing darts. Here’s how to do it: Go and purchase a calendar; tear out all the months and tape them up on the wall; now step back, put on a blindfold, spin yourself around (to facilitate disorientation); then throw a sharp knife: wherever it strikes is the day that you shall perform your catastrophe – for Ham Face, this was the Ides of Adar.

Incidentally, the reason it’s called Purim (plural) and not Pur (singular) is that it took Ham Face many attempts to hit the calendar. For he performed his casting in a public park, thus passersby and their pets kept getting in the way.

Now, with the date of his intended slaughter fixed, Ham Face approached Rex Tyrannosaur and said: “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the populace of Wonderland; and their ways of thinking diverge from the herd; these people are terrorists: it is thus unprofitable for us to tolerate their existence. If you will permit me to cleanse them, I would allocate a percentage of Wonderland’s tax revenue to this purpose.

Tyrannosaurus had a brain the size of a walnut, so he said: “Terrorists in Wonderland? I approve your proposal: liquidate them.” And he handed over his rex ring to Ham Face, and left him in charge of this matter.

Then the royal lawyers were called forth, and they drew up an executive order on behalf of Ham Face, and sealed it with the ring of Rex Tyrannosaur, stating that all the armed bureaucrats of Wonderland must abolish, kill, and cause to perish, all intellectuals, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the Ides of Adar, and to take spoil of them for a reward.

Copies of this commandment were posted in all the provinces of Wonderland, so that everyone would be ready for this big day.

In the palace, Ham Face and Tyrannosaur then sat down to drink. Meanwhile the populace was perplexed.

Chapter 4

When Mordecai perceived these developments, he put on mourning attire, went out into the middle of the country, and cried with a loud and bitter cry. He then came to the royal palace, but he stopped at the gates, because his mourning attire prohibited him from entry. And in every province where the awful commandment was posted, there was a great mourning within the intellectual classes, among which were many adherents of the Volcano.

So Queen Esther’s maids and robo-chamberlains came and told her all that was happening. This grieved her exceedingly. When she heard that her guardian Mordecai had been turned away from the palace, due to his mourning attire, she sent him a change of raiment; but he would not take it.

Then Esther summoned Mehuman the robo-chamberlain, and she sent him on a mission to Mordecai, to exchange information and learn more about what was going on.

So Mehuman the robo-chamberlain went forth and met with Mordecai in the street of the city, before the palace gates. And Mordecai told him all that was afoot, concerning Ham Face’s plan to eradicate all the intellectuals. He also gave Mehuman a copy of the decree that was stamped with the ring of the rex, so that the robo-chamberlain could show it to Queen Esther, and urge her to go in unto her husband Tyrannosaur, to supplicate him to spare these intelligent innocents.

When Mehuman came and relayed Mordecai’s message to Esther, the queen gave the following reply for the robo-chamberlain to deliver back to her guardian: “Dearest Mordecai, you ask that I make an intervention with Rex Tyrannosaur; but alas there is an executive order that says ‘Anyone who comes into the Royal Room of the rex without being summoned shall be put to death’; and I have not been called in for a whole month now.”

So this communication from Queen Esther was given to Mordecai. Then Mordecai wrote back: “O please consider that you yourself, dear Esther, as a prophetess of the Volcano, are among the people scheduled to be slaughtered. Or do you aim to keep your identity a secret, and hide your true self from your husband for all of eternity?”

After reading this, Queen Esther wrote back one last time, saying: “Touché. I will go in unto the rex, which is in defiance of the lex: and if I perish, I perish.”

Chapter 5

So, on the next day, Esther put off her royal apparel, and entered unclothed into the Royal Room of the rex, fully expecting to be put to death for having done this without being summoned.

Rex Tyrannosaur was sitting on his throne, looking exceptionally reptilian. And it was so, when he saw Queen Esther standing before him, that he held up his scepter in his hand.

Eshter recoiled, fearing that the rex was intending to strike her with the implement. So, Tyrannosaur explained: “Fear not, my love; for the raising of the scepter means that pardon has been granted; your sins are forgiven.”

Therefore Esther drew near, and bowed, and said: “My Lord, I dared to approach you without being summoned, because I must make a desperate request.”

Then said the rex unto her: “What do you wish, Queen Esther? I am willing to give you up to half of the treasures of Wonderland.”

And Esther answered: “If you will, I would like for you and Ham Face to come to my feast. For I am preparing a banquet this evening, and you and Ham Face are the only guests I’m inviting.”

Then the rex said: “It will be our pleasure to attend.”

So Tyrannosaurus ordered Ham Face to make haste, and they both went to Esther’s private feast.

And at the banquet, after they had drunk many cases of wine, Rex Tyrannosaur said to Queen Esther: “So, is this all? You simply wanted to drink with us tonight? Did you have no further petition or request?”

Then Esther answered, and said: “Yes, here is my petition and my request: I would like for both of Your Excellencies to join me for another banquet that I shall prepare tomorrow evening. Same time, same place.”

The gentlemen happily agreed. Then the rex retired to his Royal Room, and Ham Face went forth joyful and with a glad heart.

But when Ham Face was walking through the palace hallway, he passed by Mordecai who was standing near the exit, and Mordecai again refused to bow: This filled Ham Face with indignation. Nevertheless, Ham Face restrained himself; and when he came home, he summoned his friends and his wife, and he boasted to them of the glory of his riches, and he told them about his private feast with the queen. “Yes, it is true,” he said, “Queen Esther prepared a banquet, and none were invited but the rex himself and I. And she asked us to attend another such feast tomorrow. But, I hate to admit, all this avails me nothing, so long as I see that rebel snake Mordecai standing in the palace.”

Then, after his friends had all gone home, his wife instructed Ham Face her husband, saying: “Here’s my advice concerning Mordecai. Let a gallows be constructed, and tomorrow suggest unto Rex Tyrannosaur that Mordecai may be hanged thereon. Then go with a merry heart unto the banquet.”

This idea pleased Ham Face, so he caused the gallows to be made.

Chapter 6

That night, the rex could not sleep; so he commanded the head scribe from his recordkeeping division to bring The Scroll of the Ongoing History of Wonderland into the Royal Room. And the scribe read aloud some of the events from recent times. He read about the Inaugural Feast for Esther: the chronicle stated that the new queen’s guardian Mordecai sat at the royal table, where he overheard Jude and Brute conspiring to assassinate the rex. And the scroll told how Mordecai revealed this treasonous plot unto Queen Esther, who then briefed the rex: and this saved Tyrannosaur’s life.

Having been reminded of Mordecai’s heroic deed, Rex Tyrannosaurus asked: “What honor and dignity has been done to Mordecai for this?”

And the scribe answered: “Nothing.”

Rex Tyrannosaur found this surprising, and he desired to remedy the oversight; so, he began to ponder what should be the man’s reward. Then, upon hearing a noise, the rex inquired of his robo-bellboy: “Is someone in the outer court?” For it was customary for anyone who desired an audience with the rex to wait in the outer court, in hopes of being summoned.

Now, Ham Face had come to the outer court that night, with the intention of speaking to the rex about his idea to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared. So the robo-bellboy informed the rex: “Behold, Ham Face is standing in the outer court.” So the rex said: “Summon him.”

Then he came in; and Rex Tyrannosaur, still having Mordecai on his mind, said unto Ham Face: “Tell me your opinion. What should be done for a man whom the rex delights to honor?”

Ham Face thought within his heart: “Ah, he is planning to bless me: for who would the rex delight to honor more than myself?” Thus, Ham Face answered Rex Tyrannosaur, saying: “For the man whom the rex delights to honor, let the royal crown be put upon his head, and then let one of the most noble princes of Wonderland array the man with the royal apparel, and let that prince also lead the man on horseback, and let the man ride the royal stallion through the streets of the city, while the prince proclaims over and again: ‘Behold the man whom the rex delights to honor.’”

Then Rex Tyrannosaur said to Ham Face: “Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as you have said, and do all these things for my servant Mordecai, who is positioned at the palace entryway: let nothing fail of all that you have spoken.”

So Ham Face fetched the apparel and the horse, and he arrayed Mordecai; then, with Mordecai crowned and mounted on the royal stallion, Ham Face led him through the city, proclaiming before him: ‘‘Behold the man whom the rex delights to honor.”

When this was done, Ham Face hastened back to his house in the foulest mood, with his head covered in shame. Then Ham Face told his wife and all his friends everything that had befallen him; and teardrops came as he spoke.

Now while Ham Face was yet talking, the robo-chamberlains appeared at his house, and hastened to bring him to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

Chapter 7

So, Rex Tyrannosaur and Ham Face attended Queen Esther’s feast. And the rex said again unto his wife at the banquet of wine: “What is your petition, dear Esther? Anything shall be granted you. What is your request? It shall be performed. No limitations.”

Then Esther the queen answered, and said: “If I have found favor in your sight, O Rex Tyrannosaur, and if it please you, let me exchange my own life for the life of the doomed. For your executive order demands the execution of all intellectuals; and I am a prophetess, therefore my death should substitute for the deaths of all these people. That is my petition and my request.”

Then Rex Tyrannosaur exclaimed: “The annihilation of all intellectuals? Is that truly my order? It does not sound like a command that I would make.”

And Esther answered: “The event is scheduled for the Ides of Adar; but Your Majesty is correct in doubting its origin in yourself, for although your rex ring has officially stamped it, that was rather like an auto-pen signature, and the author of the decree is an enemy not worth your trouble.”

“What!?” roared the rex: “Who is this adversary? Name names!”

Queen Esther gestured toward the third member of their three-person banquet, and said: “It is all the fault of Ham Face.”

Then she handed to the rex a dossier of inside info that her guardian Mordecai had gathered, as proof of this claim.

The rex paged through the paperwork, carefully reading it while gulping wine from his grail. Suddenly, Tyrannosaur looked up and said to his wife: “You are a prophetess of the Volcano? How come you never told me this?”

Esther answered: “I feared the consequence, in light of the anti-intellectual atmosphere in Wonderland, not to mention your executive order.”

The rex then said, in a voice of love: “There is no need to be afraid.”

Meanwhile, Ham Face sat trembling beside the rex.

When Tyrannosaurus had seen enough proof, he slammed shut the dossier and arose from the banquet of wine and said: “This revelation has inflamed my wrath. I shall go into the palace garden to stroll for a spell; there I will collect my thoughts and decide what to do.”

And once the rex had left the banqueting hall, Ham Face immediately threw himself at the feet of Queen Esther, and he wept and begged for mercy, since he saw that evil was determined against him by the rex.

Now when Rex Tyrannosaur returned from the garden, he saw Ham Face on the floor clutching the feet of the queen; and the rex said in a loud voice: “Is your villainy not yet complete, Ham Face, that you attempt to seduce my wife right here in my house?”

And Ham Face blanched when this was spoken.

Then one of the robo-chamberlains appeared from the outer court and announced that the gallows were now made ready. And, aiming his royal scepter at Ham Face, the rex replied: “Hang him thereon.”

So they hanged Ham Face on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai.

Chapter 8

On that day, Rex Tyrannosaur gave the house of Ham Face, enemy of intellectuals, unto Esther the queen. And her guardian Mordecai was awarded his own suite within the palace.

And the rex removed his ring from the corpse of Ham Face, and transferred it onto the hand of Mordecai.

Then Esther spoke to the rex again, requesting that the executive order from Ham Face, which scheduled the elimination of all intellectuals, be annulled and reversed.

Rex Tyrannosaurus answered Esther, saying: “Behold, I have given my royal ring to your beloved guardian Mordecai. Write whatever you like, in the name of the rex, and seal it. It shall then be the lex of the land.”

So Esther and Mordecai met with the royal lawyers, and they drew up an executive order to override the offensive one. And they made copies of this countermand, and translated them into every tongue, and sent these all throughout the rexdom of Wonderland, by posts on horseback, and riders on mules, and young dromedaries.

And the decree now stated that the intellectuals of every city should collectively defend themselves against their would-be exterminators: to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, any powers that assault them on the Ides of Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a reward.

Now Mordecai went out from the presence of the rex in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple: and the country of Wonderland rejoiced and was glad.

After the lex change, the intellectuals were slightly less pessimistic than they usually are. Believe it or not, intellectualism itself became fashionable for a while: thus, people whose tendencies had never previously inclined that way now embarked upon becoming intellectual, and they slowly but surely began to think their first thoughts.

THE END

12 October 2025

The Words of Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes)

1

The world is a kaleidoscope. Everything dazzles around, but it all comes to nothing.

Sometimes someone says: “I found something new.” But when you look, it is truly old. There is nothing new in this world.

I, Qoheleth, was president of Eldorado. I took it upon myself to mummify wisdom. What a bad idea: it is unrewarding. Nobody is willing to compensate you for accomplishing something like that.

But, anyway, I was wealthier and smarter than anyone else, so I figured that I might as well do what nobody else could ever do; thus, I tried being fat, and then I tried being thin; and then I tried being sane, and then I tried being mad. It was all a wash. My verdict: Not worth it. You’re basically chasing after the wind.

2

So then I tried being happy, and I tried being sad; but neither of those ways seemed quite right to me either. I also tried being rich and poor. Nothing moved me much.

3

There is a time for everything. A time for winning and a time for losing. Just let be: the readiness is all.

Eternity always awaits us, so nothing really matters. Eat and drink, if you like.

As for morality, good people and evil people both die. And nobody resurrects from death; but everyone’s atoms get recycled into fresh forms of life that have no recollection of their previous existences. So, for epicurean reasons, live harmoniously.

4

Because of all the oppression that there is in this world, it is better not to be born. But if you must receive life, then it is better to be aborted as early as possible.

Entrepreneurialism, mercantilism, competition: All are annoying.

The financialization of everything is the main problem.

5

Relationships and solitude both have their pluses and minuses.

Speech and silence also both have their appeal. Dreams are nice, unless they are nightmares. All of these things are mostly harmless and meaningless.

Superfluous talk is amusing. I am partial to chatterboxes; but just the ones who can listen and respond to questions.

Wealth should be shared with all. Everyone, including the rich, will be happier that way.

6

Fools make out the best in this world, because ignorance is bliss.

7

Maintain a good reputation, if possible. But don’t sweat it: frankly, it is probably not an option.

Be slow to anger and quick to forgive. At least try. And if you fail, forgive yourself; then try again.

I find wisdom alluring. Same for the arts.

8

No one can control doom. You have no idea when you might die. However, as Whitman says, there really is no death. So, life never ends; but at any moment one might lose one’s memory, which is one’s identity. For this reason, do not invest too much care in your present self.

9

All events are governed by pure chance.

The best thing in the whole wide world is friendship. And marriage is a subsection of friendship.

10

Money does not end up with who deserves it. Neither does fame. Neither do offices of power. So, never trust affluence, popularity, or authority.

11

Again, share your wealth. You never know when misfortune will occur.

12

Enjoy youth while you possess it; it vanishes rapidly.

Cherish any delight that you encounter. The future is an endless search for fleeting pleasures.

§

Write many books, and read many books.

That is all.

11 October 2025

Soms 103–109

103

O my soul, let us bless Yahweh, by recalling all his benefits:

He forgives our iniquities, without demanding sacrifice.

He heals all our diseases, and redeems our life from destruction.

Bless Yahweh for satisfying our mouth with good things, so that our youth is renewed like the phoenix.

Yahweh rescues the oppressed. He made himself known to Moses, and he freed the Empire’s workforce.

As the heaven is high above the earth, that is how great his mercy is to all who follow him. And as far as the east is from the west, that is how far he has removed our flaws from us: no need for blood sacrifice.

Like a father pities his children, so Yahweh pities us; for he remembers that our frame is earthen.

As for man, his days are as grass; like a flower, he is quick to pass away.

The wind blows around and is gone. No one knows why.


104

O Yahweh my god, you are immense; you cover yourself in light as with a garment; you stretch out the heavens like a curtain.

You lay the beams of your chambers in the sea. You make the clouds your chariot. You walk on the wings of the wind.

You sculpt your angels from breath; your seraphims are flaming fire.

Who poured the concrete foundation for planet Earth, so that it is sturdy and cannot sink? You draped it in oceans like royal robes.

The waters stood above the mountains; then you shouted a rebuke, and they fled. At your thunderous voice, they hasted away. After going up the mountainside, the rivers splashed back down into the valleys, to the places that you prepared for them. You set bounds, and told the oceans never to step beyond them.

Then you sent freshwater springs to run among the hills; they give drink to every beast of the field: wild asses quench their thirst. Thereabouts the fowls of heaven make their nests, and they sing among the branches.

Yahweh makes the grass grow to feed the cattle, and herb to serve man. He makes food come out of the soil.

And God created wine, to gladden the heart.

The trees of Yahweh are full of sap; the sequoia redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains, he has planted.

This is where the birds build their homes. The stork in the fir tree.

God made the wild goats on the high hills, and the conies on the rocks. He made the sun and the moon.

Also, Yahweh made darkness, for when the beasts of the forest creep forth.

The young lions roar, and God creates prey to be meat for them.

The sun rises. They all gather and lay themselves down in their dens. Man goes to work, and labors until the evening.

O Yahweh, how manifold are your inventions! With wisdom you accomplished all this. The globe is full of your riches.

Look how vast the sea is. It contains writhing creatures innumerable: both small and great beasts. There go the ships through the ocean. And here comes leviathan, whom you made to play therein.

These beings wait upon you, that you may give them their meat in due season. Whatever you toss to them they gather: you open your hand, they are filled with good. If you hide your face, they are troubled; take away your breath, and they die, and return to dust.

You blow forth your breath: they are created; and the face of the earth is replenished.

The glory of Yahweh shall endure forever. He looks on the earth, and it trembles: he touches the hills, and they smoke.

I will sing unto Yahweh as long as I live; I will praise God while I have my being. My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be happy with the Volcano.


105

Do not forget to thank Yahweh. Make his deeds known to the people.

Talk of his wondrous words, and seek his face evermore.

Remember his marvels, and the judgments of his mouth.

He never forgot his covenant with his wayfarers. He remembered it forever. He kept it to a thousand generations. He never broke it once.

He gave the people Eldorado: here, take it. Mix and mingle. Finally, meld.

He guided you from one nation to another, from one people to another. Eldorado knows no bounds.

But think back to when there was Jacob: he fought with his god, and he defeated him; thus he earned the title “God of gods,” and the name Israel: “Godfighter.” He was awarded four wives and thirteen offspring; and his favorite son was Joseph.

Then a famine struck the land, and Joseph was sent ahead into that age’s Empire, to prepare meals for his family.

At first Joseph was placed in fetters: he was laid in iron. But then Yahweh inspired him to write a book called The Interpretation of Dreams, and the Pharaoh took note of this: he soon set Joseph free, and Joseph gained favor and was crowned the Vice Pharaoh.

Now Jacob came to the Empire with his family, to escape the famine, and Joseph fed them. Then these wayfarers grew strong, until they were stronger than their creditors, who owned the Empire.

Now the Empire’s creditors began to hate the kinfolk of Joseph. So they oppressed them.

Then Yahweh sent his prophet Moses, and Bryan his shadow. They showed signs and did wonders:

They sent darkness, and made it dark. They turned water into blood, and slew their fish. They brought forth frogs in abundance, into the chambers of the creditors. God spoke, and flies and lice filled their coasts. He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire on their crops. God spoke again, and locusts and caterpillars came: so many that they could not be numbered; and these insects ate all the herbs and fruit of the land. Then Yahweh in person came down and beheaded all the firstborn of the creditors, including the firstborn son of Pharaoh.

Thus the working class spoiled the Empire of silver and gold. The Empire was glad when they departed.

Then Yahweh led them in his vortex of clouds and flames. Night and day, they wandered the wilderness.

The people asked, and he gave them bread from the sky, and quails for meat. He opened the rock, and water gushed out: it ran in the dry places like a river, and the people drank freely; thus they revived, and did not die; and they regretted the fate of Moses.


106

After the workforce left the Empire, they forgot the multitude of wonders that God had performed; therefore they provoked him at the waters of the Red Ocean.

Instead of slaying them there, he saved them, so that his name could be big.

He rebuked the Red Ocean, and it dried up. Then he led them through its depths, as through the wilderness.

Thus he rescued them from the hated hand of their oppressors, and the waters covered the creditors who chased after them. There was not one left alive.

Then the wayfarers believed in Yahweh, and they sang his praise.

But soon they forgot again all about his good deeds. Instead of embracing their god, who was traveling among them, they devised their own churches, with their own leadership: the traditions of men.

The earth opened and swallowed them up.

Then a fire was kindled in their company, and burned all the wicked. Yahweh fed them to Baal-Peor.

They then made a golden statue of Yahweh in Horeb, and installed it on the ark, between the cherubims. God blessed them there, and they did mix and mingle.


107

The merchants who go to sea in ships, to do business in the great waters, let them see the works of Yahweh, and his wonders in the deep. For he commands, and a stormy wind lifts up the waves: they rise all the way to the heaven, they go down again to the depths.

Behold the merchant mariners: their soul wilts because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man. They are at their wit’s end.

They cry to Yahweh in their distress. He makes the storm calm, so that the waves become still. Then they are glad because all is quiet. God brings them to their desired haven.

Oh that men would praise Yahweh for his goodness! Look at the wonderful works that he has done.


108

My heart is fixed: I shall awaken God with psaltery and harp.

Your mercy is great beyond the heavens. Your truth reaches above the clouds.

Save us from trouble, O Yahweh; for vain is the help of man.

Through God we shall do valiantly. He shall tread down our foes.


109

Speak, God! Do not remain quiet!

Look: do you hear? The mouth of the wicked and deceitful have opened against me. They are speaking against me with a lying tongue.

They have encompassed me with hatred. They fight against me without a cause.

I acted with compassion, but they were satans to me. They have awarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

Take these satans of mine to the celestial court: assign each satan a prosecutor: let him stand at his right, as a faultfinder to accuse him, and let each satan be tried, and condemned, and let his prayers become sin.

Let his days be few, and let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. For he refused to shew mercy, but menaced the poor and needy man, that he might slay the broken in heart.

As he loved cursing, so let him be cursed. Let curses enter his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones. Let this be the reward of my satans from the LORD.

But do good unto me, O Yahweh God, and be merciful, because I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. I am gone like the shadow when it declines: I am tossed up and down as the locust. My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh fails of fatness.

Help me, O Yahweh God; save me with your hand. When my satans curse me, bless me. Let them reproach, but turn their words into my good fortune.

I promise, if you do this, I will praise you.

10 October 2025

Soms 90–102

90

(A prayer of Moses.)

Dear Lord, we have lived in you for all generations. Before the mountains were made, in the time preceding your creation of our globe and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.

You send man into destruction; then you say: “Come back.”

One thousand years to you are like yesterday, like the night that just passed. You carry the years away as with a flood; they are as a sleep. Then, on the morrow, they are like the grass springing up: in the morning it grows; in the evening it is cut down.

You are beginning to trouble us with your anger. Why are you behaving so wrathfully towards us?

Are you truly searching out our sins, and inspecting our souls for flaws and for wrongdoings?

Our days are few, and your anger subtracts even more. Our whole life passes like a very short story that is told.

We are given seventy years of decent life; eighty if we are lucky. And all of them are spent in labor and sorrow. Then you snip our cord, and we fly away.

Who knows the power of your mad fury? You are as frightful as you appear. Your constant anger teaches us to cherish the rare day of gladness.

Decrease the amount of time that you plan to afflict us with evil. Let us see beauties instead of horrors. Be a good god, Yahweh.


91

He that dwells in the secret nest of the Most High shall take comfort under the shadow of the Almighty. He will save you from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover you with his feathers, and you shall trust in his wings: his truth is your shield and buckler. You shall not fear predators flying in the night, nor arrows flying in the day.

When the plague comes walking in darkness, it shall destroy thousands behind you, and ten thousand more shall fall before you, but it shall not come near you. You shall remain upright.

He shall command his angels to protect you in all your ways. They shall lift you up with their hands, lest you trip over a stone.

You shall step on lions and dragons with your feet. You shall trample rhinoceri and jabberwocks.

“Because he loves me, I will save him.”


92

(A sabbath som.)

It is a good idea to give thanks to the god Yahweh, and to sing him songs. Soothe him with music: play to him on a ten-stringed instrument.

O Yahweh, how great are your works! and your thoughts are very deep.

The brutes and fools do not understand you, so they perform wicked actions; but then you destroy them forever.

Your enemies shall perish and be scattered, but you shall boost my horn like the horn of a unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil. You will invite me to watch while you subjugate my foes.

The righteous shall grow like the palm tree that is planted before God. Even in old age, they shall bear fruit. They shall be fat and flourishing.


93

Yahweh reigns, clothed in majesty; he has girded himself with power. His world is fixed in place: it cannot be moved.

Your throne is old: it was put there long ago. You are from everlasting.

The floods are rising, O Yahweh, the floods are lifting their voice; the floods push up their waves.

But Yahweh at the pinnacle is mightier than the noise of all the oceans. His statements are certified TRUE.


94

I call on the god who owns vengeance: O Yahweh, enactor of revenge, show yourself! Lift up yourself, O judge of all the earth: render a reward to the arrogant.

How long are you going to let the greedy triumph? They break in pieces your wayfarers, O Yahweh; they slay widows, immigrants, and orphans. Yet they say: “God will not see our evil deeds. God will never awake to punish us.”

O you brutish fools, when will you understand? He that fashioned the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall he not see? He that invented knowledge, shall he not know?

Yahweh can read your mind, and he has found that all your thoughts are emptiness.

Who will come and sweep away these evildoers? Who will stand up for the compassionate against the cruel?

If Yahweh had not hastened to help, my soul would have made silence its permanent residence. But I said: “My foot is slipping,” and Yahweh held me up.

In the multitude of my thoughts within me your comforts delight my soul.


95

Come along with me, and we will sing praises to Yahweh.

Let us exalt Yahweh as the biggest God, and the Chief Executive God.

In one hand, he holds the deep places of the earth; and in his other hand, he holds the highest mountains.

He also owns the sea and all the dry land.

Come, my friend, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the god Yahweh who crafted us.

For he is our herdsman, and we are the goats of his pasture. We should try to listen to him.

Do not turn and run away from him; do not lynch our leader, as that one time in the wilderness. Otherwise, he will never allow us to sleep.


96

Let us sing unto Yahweh a new song: one that he has never heard before.

Let the sea roar. Let the field be joyful. Let all the trees in the forest have their say.

Now Yahweh is coming to show us what truth really is.


97

Yahweh rules. All the multitudes of islands in the sea should express their gladness.

There are clouds and darkness all around him. He shoots out lightnings and causes the earth to quake. He melts hills like wax. Yahweh fills the whole earth.

The heavens shout and moan and grumble.

Yahweh is higher than any being has ever gotten. Yahweh is far above all the gods.

Everyone who loves Yahweh hates misfortune.


98

Let us compose for Yahweh a new song, because his holy arm has achieved a marvelous victory.

Yahweh won a race against all the priests. Therefore, praise him loudly: at the top of your lungs.

Bring out the harp, and let us sing a song to Yahweh. Play trumpets, with the sound of the cornet as well.

The singing of the sea is a full roaring. I wonder what type of people dwell in the sea.

Let the floods clap their hands. Let the hills be joyful together.

Yahweh is coming to judge the earth. He is holding a weapon.


99

Yahweh is now in charge. Let the people tremble. He sits between the cherubims. Let the earth be moved.

Yahweh is colossal in Eldorado. He is taller than everyone.

Moses and Bryan among his prophets; also Amos: they called upon Yahweh, and he answered them. He spoke with them in the cloudy pillar, among thick smoke: they discussed the future of mankind and the caravansary. God made Bryan the Eternal King among his Anointed Messiahs.


100

Landscapes everywhere, I prompt you: make a joyful noise unto the LORD.

Serve Yahweh gladly and willingly. Sing to him always.

He is Yahweh our god. He made us; we did not make ourselves. We are his wayfarers, the goats of his pasture.

Enter into his house bleating praise, for Yahweh is friendly.


101

If I behave myself wisely in a perfect way, will you come unto me? I will walk with a perfect heart, to make you visit me, Yahweh.

I will look at no wicked thing. I will not know a wicked person.

Whoever privately slanders his neighbor, I will refuse to salute. I will indulge no one who has an arrogant look and a puffed-up heart.

I will early destroy all those who work deceit and tell lies. In this way, all the wickedness may be eliminated from your city, O Yahweh. I look forward to meeting you.


102

Hear my prayer, O Yahweh, stop avoiding me.

Do not hide your face, but bring your ear down to my level. When I cry to you, answer speedily.

For my life is consumed as smoke; and my bones are burned as in a firepit.

My heart is mashed: withered like grass. I forgot to eat my bread.

All I do is groan; you can see my ribcage through my skin.

I am like a pelican of the wilderness, or like an owl of the desert. I watch like a sparrow alone on the house’s rooftop.

My enemies rant and rage against me all day. They served me ashes for a meal, and my drink is diluted with tears.

You have lifted me up, and cast me down. My days are now a declining shadow.

But you, O Yahweh, live forever; so why should you care about people who are transient?

Still, dear God, do not stop my life right in the middle: let me have my remaining years; what could that signify, next to your endlessness?

You built the foundation of the earth long ago; you constructed the heavens with hammer and nails. They shall perish, but you shall endure. They shall become torn in tatters like a garment, after heavy wear, and then you shall change them. Yes, the heaven and earth shall be changed.

But you remain the same. Your skin never ages. Your life has no date of expiration.

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