Kebra Nagast

How those who were sent away wept swore an oath to him in the Name of the Lord God of Israel, and by the heavenly Zion, the Tabernacle of the Law of God, and by what God had promised unto Abraham, and by the purity and excellence of Isaac, and by His making Jacob to arrive in and inherit a land whereto he was a stranger, and his seed after him. And when they had sworn thus to him, he answered " Come now, let us take [with us] and said unto them, our Lady Zion but how are we to take her ? I will show you. And carry ye out my plan and if God willeth we shall be able to take our Lady with us. And if they should gain knowledge of our doings and slay us, that shall not trouble us, because we shall die for our Lady Zion." And they all rose up, and kissed his head, " and his face, and his eyes, and they said unto him, We will do everything that thou hast counselled us to do whether we die or whether we live, we are with thee for the sake of our Lady Zion. If we die it will not cause us sorrow, and if we live the Will of God be done " And one of them, the son of Yoas (Benaiah), whose name was Zechariah, said, " I cannot sit down because of the great gladness that is in my heart. Tell me, moreover, canst thou indeed carry her off, and is it not a lie ? Thou canst go into the House of God in the place of thy father Zadok, and the But ponder we:l keys are continually in thy hand. what we counsel thee before they take the keys out of Thou knowest the hidden openings (or, thy hand. which windows) King Solomon made but none of the enter therein except thy father once each priests may in to offer order year up sacrifice in the Holy of Holies on behalf of himself and on behalf of the people. Ponder, consider, and sleep not in the matter of thy wish to carry away Zion. And we will depart with her as soon as she hath been committed to our care, and we shall have joy and our fathers sorrow when she arriveth with us in the country of Ethiopia." ; ; ! ; E 2 67