Essene Prayer

 An Essene Prayer

For without Thee no way is perfect.

And without Thy will nothing is done.

It is Thou who hast taught all knowledge

And all things come to pass by Thy will.

There is none beside Thee to dispute Thy counsel

Or to understand all Thy holy design,

Or to contemplate the depth of Thy mysteries

And the power of Thy might.

Who can endure Thy glory,

And what is the son of man

In the midst of Thy wonderful deeds?

What shall one born of woman

Be accounted before Thee?

Kneaded from the dust,

His abode is the nourishment of worms.

He is but a shape, but moulded clay,

And inclines toward dust.

From  the Dead Sea Scrolls

Qumran scroll 1QS XI, 17-22

These scrolls, discovered between 1947-1956, are written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, mostly on parchment. They date between 150 b.c. – a.d. 70. They are identified with the Jewish sect, the Essenes, a Jewish group that may trace their history from the priests of Zadok. They were committed to voluntary poverty, abstinence, asceticism, and were, obviously, deeply spiritual. They lived to see Christ in their midst and perhaps this lovely, translated Prayer was made after seeing the Savior in their midst…