[The sections in this entry correspond to the chapters in the King James Bible as follows: 19 = 34; 20 = 37; 21 = 40–48.]
19
And Yahweh came and said to me: “Mortal, prophesy against the pastors of the caravansary. Thus says the Volcano: Woe unto all pastors! You pastors feed yourselves, when you should feed your flocks. Instead, you take from your flocks. You eat their fat, you clothe yourself with their wool. You do not strengthen those who are weak, neither have you healed those who are sick, neither have you made firm that which was broken, neither have you brought back those who were driven astray, neither have you sought for those who are lost; but with force and with cruelty you have ruled them. And they were scattered, because there is no true pastor: they became prey to all the wild beasts of the field. My goatlings wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yes, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none of you so-called pastors searched or sought after them. Therefore, you pastors, hear the word of the Volcano:
“Thus says Yahweh God: I am against all pastors. I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the pastors feed themselves anymore; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.
“For thus says Yahweh God: Behold, I myself will search for my goatlings, and seek them out. Wherever they are scattered, I will rescue them from all treacherous places, and shelter them on a dark and cloudy day. I will bring them to feed on the mountains, and by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will graze them in good pastures, and upon the high mountains: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture they shall feed upon the heights. I will nurture my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Volcano.
“I will seek whoever was lost, and bring back whoever was driven astray, and will mend whoever was broken, and will heal whoever was sick. But I will destroy the corpulent and the powerful; I will stuff them with judgment.
“And as for you, O my flock, thus says Yahweh God: Behold, I will judge between goatling and goatling, between one animal and another.
“To all you thick, strong ones among the multitude: Do you think that you can eat up all the good pasture, and then tread down with your feet the residue, and muddy the water after you yourselves have gotten a chance to drink; so that the others must settle for grazing on what you have left behind, and drink the water that you have fouled? Thus says the Volcano: I will judge between the corpulent goats and the lean goats. Because you have thrust aside with your shoulder and pushed all the smaller ones with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, I will save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between every individual.
“Thus shall they know that I the Volcano am their protector, and they, the wayfarers, are my caravan. And you my flock, the goats of my pasture, are human beings, and I am your God, says the volcano of potential.”
20
I felt Yahweh’s hand fall upon me: he grabbed me by my hair and carried me on the wind of God; then set me down in the middle of a valley full of bones. Everywhere I looked, there were bones: they were strewn throughout the valley, and these bones were very dry.
Now the Volcano said unto me: “Mortal, can these bones live?”
And I answered: “Dear God, how should I know?”
Then he said unto me: “Prophesy over these bones, and say unto them: ‘O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Volcano. I will make you come together, and stand up, and I will lay sinews upon you, and put breath in you, and you shall live.’”
So I did as I was instructed: Then, while prophesying, there came a noise of rattling and shaking from the bones, and they started joining together, bone to bone. And when I looked, there were sinews forming upon them, and flesh came up onto the bones, and skin covered them: but there was no breath in them.
Then Yahweh said unto me: “Prophesy to the breath of life! Prophesy, mortal, and say to my Spirit: Thus says the Volcano: Come from the four winds, O life-breath, and breathe your Whirlwind Spirit into these cadavers, to make them spring alive.”
So I prophesied as he instructed me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet: a nude multitude.
Then Yahweh God said unto me: “Mortal, those bones you saw were the wayfarers of the caravan. Behold, they say: ‘Our bones are dried, we are dead, our hope is lost.’ Therefore, prophesy and say unto them: ‘The Volcano will excavate your graves and cause you to live, so that you may mix and mingle with the nations of the world. And you will know that I am Yahweh, when I dig you up out of the underworld of Sheol, and clothe your bones with the moist clay of flesh, and breathe my Spirit into your nostrils, so that you can move about and go to and fro in the earth, and your eyes shall be opened, and you shall understand good and evil.’”
21
In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, the hand of Yahweh fell upon me: he clutched me and brought me to Eldorado. He set me down upon a high hill, where I could see our whole southern capital. Then he went inside his vortex, and the aperture closed behind him. Soon the vortex reopened, and when he came back out, all his abundant hair had been gathered up into seven braids, so that his body could be seen, and his flesh was no longer brown like rusty iron, but it shone like copper, and he held in his hand the Rod of God, Nehushtan: the magic wand with the brazen serpent twining around it. And he said to me: “Mortal, behold with your eyes, and listen with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you. For I brought you here to reveal some of the structures that I plan to build.”
And the Volcano used the Rod of God to make visions appear; also he employed it as a measuring device, and to point out features of the architecture that he showed me.
First he unveiled the future Temple of the Hairy One. He noted all its gates and recesses and openings. He showed me the vestibule. He took me to the outer court, and showed me all the chambers and the pavements. He then showed me how all the windows on the temple were made of gemstones, and he showed me the spiral staircases. He took me to the inner forecourt, and showed me all the palm trees, and all the bookshelves, and all the grilling altars. And he showed me the portico. Then he let me look inside the Holy of Holies, and I beheld all the seductions that it contains. He showed me the side chambers and the great hall; the double doors, the shrine, the lattices, and so on.
Afterward he led me through a gate, and there was a noise of many waters, and the place shined brightly: this was where he kept his executive desk. Then thick black smoke began to fill the room, so we went back into the hallway and shut the door. Directly outside, there were cataracts cascading down the walls, and jets of spray gushing about from someplace under the floor, and the water was frothy.
He showed me many other things, as well: too numerous to fit into the last ten chapters of a scroll.
Lastly, he measured the whole country, and it was countless God Rods across; and its center was vaster than its circumference. And he told me the secret name of this place: for it is officially known as Eldorado, but the Volcano also refers to it sometimes as Lava Land.
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