The Aramaic apocalypse, a fragment of the Dead Sea Scroll

THE fragment of the Dead Sea Scrolls that is known as The Aramaic apocalypse, 4Q246. The first column, on the right (reading right to left), is only partly preserved and so it cannot be translated into sentences and is not included in the text below:

The son of God he will be proclaimed and the son of the Most High they will call him. Like the sparks of the vision, so will be their kingdom. They will reign for years on the earth and they will trample all. People will trample people and one province another province, until the people of God will arise and all will rest from the sword. Their kingdom will be an eternal kingdom and all their path will be in truth. They will judge the earth in truth and all will make peace. The sword will cease from the earth, and all the provinces will pay homage to them. The Great God is their helper. He will wage war for them. He will give peoples into their hands and all of (the peoples) he will cast before (the people of God). Their dominion will be an eternal dominion and all their boundaries of . . . (the fragment ends here).

(Photograph omitted)