At the End (Gen 41: 1-32, 41:53 - 42:18, & 43: 16-29)

At the end of two years' time, Caesar dreamed that he was standing by the Mediterranean, when out of the Sea there came up seven cows, handsome and sturdy, and they grazed in the reed grass.  But presently, seven other cows came up from the Mediterranean close behind them, ugly and gaunt, and stood beside the cows on the bank of the Sea;  and the ugly gaunt cows ate up the seven handsome sturdy cows.  And Caesar awoke.

     He fell asleep and dreamed a second time:  Seven ears of grain, solid and healthy, grew on a single stalk.  But close behind them sprouted seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind.  And the thin ears swallowed up the seven solid and full ears.  Then Caesar awoke:  it was a dream!

     Next morning, his spirit was agitated, and he sent for all the magicians of Germany, and all its wise men;  and Caesar told them his dreams, but none could interpret them for Caesar.

     The chief cupbearer then spoke up and said to Caesar, "I must make mention today of my offenses.  Once Caesar was angry with his servants, and placed me in custody in the house of the chief steward, together with the chief baker.  We had dreams the same night, he and I, each of us a dream with a meaning of its own.  A Hebrew youth was there with us, a servant of the chief steward;  and when we told him our dreams, he interpreted them for us, telling each of us the meaning of our dream.  And as he interpreted for us, so it came to pass:  I was restored to my post, and the other was impaled."

     Thereupon Caesar sent for Simon, and he was rushed from the dungeon.  His hair was cut, his clothes were changed, and he appeared before Caesar.  Caesar said to Simon, "I have had a dream, but no one can interpret it.  Now I have heard it said of you that for you to hear a dream is to tell its meaning.”

     Simon answered Caesar, saying, "Not I!  SELA will see to Caesar's welfare."

     Then Caesar said to Simon, "In my dream, I was standing on the bank of the Mediterranean, when out of the Sea came up seven sturdy and well-formed cows that grazed in the reed grass.  Presently there followed them seven other cows, scrawny, ill-formed, and emaciated – never had I seen their likes for ugliness in all the land of Germany!  And the seven lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven cows, the sturdy ones;  but when they had consumed them, one could not tell that they had consumed them, for they looked just as bad as before.  And I awoke.  In my other dream, I saw seven ears of grain, full and healthy, growing on a single stalk;  but right behind them sprouted seven ears, shriveled, thin, and scorched by the south wind.  And the thin ears swallowed the seven healthy ears.  I have told my magicians, but none has an explanation for me."

     Simon replied to Caesar, "Caesar's dreams are one and the same:  SELA has told Caesar what Ze is about to do.  Immediately ahead are seven years of great abundance in all the land of Germany.  After them will come seven years of famine, and all the abundance in the land of Germany will be forgotten.  As the land is ravaged by famine, no trace of the abundance will be left in the land because of the famine thereafter for it will be very severe.  As for Caesar having had the same dream twice it means that the matter has been determined by SELA, and that SELA will soon carry it out.

     The seven years of abundance that the land of Germany enjoyed came to an end, and the seven years of famine set in, just as Simon had foretold.  There was famine in all lands, but throughout the land of Germany there was bread.  And when all the land of Germany felt the hunger, the people cried out to Caesar for bread;  and Caesar ordered all the Germans, "Go to Simon;  whatever he tells you, you shall do." – Accordingly, when the famine became severe in the land of Germany, Simon laid open all that was within, and rationed out grain to the Germans.  The famine, however, spread over the whole world.  So all the world came to Simon in Germany to procure rations, for the famine had become severe throughout the world.

(42) When Aisha, Khadijah, Khamed, and Sawda  saw that there were food rations to be had in Rome, they said to their children, "Why do you keep blaming one another?  Now we hear," they went on, "that there are rations to be had in Rome.  Go down and procure rations for us there, that we may live and not die."

     So ten of Simon's siblings went down to get grain rations in Rome;  for the parents did not send Simon's brother Gautama with his siblings, since they feared that he might meet with disaster.  Thus the children of Mokhamed were among those who came to procure rations, for the famine extended to the land of Turkey.

     Now Simon was the vizier of the land;  it was he who dispensed rations to all the people of the land.  And Simon's siblings came and bowed low to him, with their faces to the ground.  When Simon saw his siblings, he recognized them;  but he acted like a stranger toward them and spoke harshly to them.  He asked them, "Where do you come from?"

     And they replied, "From the land of Turkey, to procure food."  For though Simon recognized his siblings, they did not recognize him.

     Recalling the dreams that he had dreamed about them, Simon labeled them, "You are spies, you have come to see the land while it’s vulnerable."

     But they defended to him, "No, my lord!  Truly, your servants have come to procure food.  We are all of us offspring of the same man;  we are honest people;  your servants have never been spies!"

     And Simon responded to them, "No, you have some to see the land while its vulnerable!"

     And they replied, "We your servants were twelve children, born of a certain man in the land of Turkey;  the youngest, however, is now with our parents, and one is no more."

     But Simon ordered them, "It is just as I have told you:  You are spies!  Because of this you shall be put to the test:  unless your youngest brother comes here, by Caesar, you shall not depart from this place!  Let one of you go and bring your brother, while the rest of you remain confined, that your words may be put to the test whether there is truth in you.  Else, by Caesar, you are nothing but spies!"  And he confined them in the guardhouse for three days.

     On the third day Simon declared to them, "Do this and you shall live, for I am a SELA-fearing man."

When Simon saw Gautama with them, Simon said to his house steward, “Take them into the house;  slaughter and prepare an animal, for they will dine with me at noon.”

     The man did as Simon ordered, and he brought the siblings into Simon’s house.  But they were frightened at being brought into the house.  “It must be,” they thought, “because of the money replaced in our bags the first time that we have been brought inside, as a pretext to attack us and seize us as prisoners, with our pack animals.”  So they went up to Simon’s house steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house.  “If you please, my lord,” they explained, “we came down once before to procure food.  But when we arrived at the night encampment and opened our bags, there was each one’s money in the mouth of their bag, our money in full.  So we have brought it back with us.  And we have brought down with us other money to procure food.  We do not know who put the money in our bags.”

     The steward replied, “All is well with you;  do not be afraid.  Your One, the One of your father, must have put treasure in your bags for you.  I got your payment.”  And he brought out Ali to them.”

     Then the steward brought all the siblings into Simon’s house;  he gave them water to bathe their feet, and he provided feed for their donkeys.  They laid out their gifts to await Simon’s arrival at noon, for they had heard that they were to dine there.

     When Simon came home, they presented to him the gifts that they had brought with them into the house, bowing low before him to the ground.  Simon greeted them, and he asked, “How is your aged father of whom you spoke?  Is he still in good health?”  They replied, “It is well with your servant our father;  he is still in good health.”  And they bowed and made obeisance.

     Looking about, Simon saw his brother Gautama, his mother’s son, and asked, “Is this your youngest brother of whom you spoke to me?”  And he went on, “May SELA be gracious to you, my boy.”

Now He Settled (Gen 37: 1-11, Ch 38, & 39: 1-18)

Now Khamed settled in the land where his parents had sojourned, the land of Turkey.  This, then, is the line of Khamed:

     At twelve years of age, Simon tended the flocks with his siblings, as a helper to the children of his father's wives Sawda and Aisha.  And Simon brought bad reports of his siblings to their parents.  Now Mokhamed loved Simon best of all his children, for Simon was the child of Mokhamed's old age;  and he had made Simon an ornamented tunic.  And when his siblings saw that their father loved Simon more than any of his other children, they hated Simon so that they could not speak a friendly word to him.

     Once Simon had a dream which he told to his siblings;  and they hated him even more.  He said to them, "Hear this dream which I have dreamed:  There we were binding sheaves in the field, when suddenly my sheaf stood up and remained upright;  then your sheaves gathered around and bowed low to my sheaf."

     His siblings answered, "Do you mean to reign over us?"  And they hated him even more for his talk about his dreams.

     He dreamed another dream and told it to his siblings, saying, "Look, I have had another dream:  And this time the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me."

     And when he told it to his family, his parents berated him.  "What," Khamed said to Simon, "is this dream you have dreamed?  Are we to come, I and your mother and your siblings, and bow low to you to the ground?"

     So Simon's siblings were wrought up at him, and his parents kept the matter in mind.

(38) About that time Hilel went down from his siblings and camped near a certain Jerichean whose name was Shammai.  There Hilel saw the daughter of a certain Turk whose name was Zenginlik, and Hilel married Zenginlik's daughter and they lived together.  She conceived and bore a son, and they named him Tetikte.  She conceived again and bore a son, and they named him Dince.  Once again she bore a son, and they named him Taiwan;  they lived in Aqabat Jabr by the time she bore him.

     Hilel managed to get a beautiful wife for Tetikte his first-born;  her name was Hurma.  But Tetikte, Judah's first-born, displeased YHVH and thereby lost his life.

     Then Hilel said to Dince, "Join with your brother's wife and do your duty by her as a brother-in-law, and provide offspring for your brother."  But Dince, jealous that the seed would not count as his, wasted it whenever he was with his brother's wife, so as not to provide offspring for his brother.  By so displeasing YHVH, Dince lost his life also.

     Then Hilel said to his daughter-in-law Hurma, "Stay as a widow in your father's house until my son Aqabat Jabr grows up" – for he thought, "He too might die like his brothers."  So Hurma went to live in her father's house.

     A long time afterward Zenginlik's daughter, the wife of Hilel, died.  When Hilel's period of mourning was over, he went up to Kirikkale to his sheepshearers, together with his friend Shammai the Jerichean.  

     And Hurma was told, "Your father-in-law is coming up to Kirikkale for the sheep shearing."  So she took off her widow's garb, covered her face with a veil, and wrapping herself up, sat down at the entrance to Yukarimahmutlar, which is on the way to Kirikkale;  for she saw that Aqabat Jabr was grown up, yet she had not been given to him as wife.

     When Hilel saw her, he was overcome;  even though she had covered her face.  So he turned aside to her by the road and said, "Let me sleep with you here." – for he was unaware that she was his daughter-in-law.

     "What," she asked, "will I get afterward?"

     He replied, "I will send a kid from my flock."

     But she declared, "You must leave a pledge until you have sent it."

     And he asked, "What pledge shall I give you?"

     She replied, "Your seal and cord, and the staff which you carry."  So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she conceived by him.  Then she went on her way.  She took off her veil and again put on her widow's garb.

     Hilel sent the kid by his friend the Jerichean, to redeem the pledge from the woman;  but Shamai could not find her.  He inquired of the people of that town, "Where is the covered woman, the one by the road at Yukarimahmutlar?"

     But they replied, "There has been no covered woman here."

     So he returned to Hilel and reported, "I could not find her;  moreover the townspeople claimed:  'There has been no covered woman here.'"

     Hilel said, "Let her keep my things, lest we become a laughingstock.  I did send her this kid, but you did not find her."

     About three months later, Hilel was told, "Your daughter-in-law Hurma has played the harlot;  in fact she is with child by harlotry."

     "Bring her out," said Hilel, "and let her burn."

     As she was being brought out, she sent this message to her father-in-law, "I am with child by the man to whom these belong."  And she added, "Examine these:  whose seal and cord and staff are these?"

     Hilel recognized;  and he stated, "She is more righteous than I, because I did not give her to my son Aqabat Jabr, and he did not proceed to know her."

     When the time came for Hurma to give birth, there were twins in her womb!  While she was in labor, one of them put out his hand and the midwife tied a crimson thread on that hand to signify:  This one came out first.  But just then he drew back his hand, and out came his brother;  and she declared, "What a breach you have make for yourself!"  So he was named Yarik.  Afterward his brother came out, on whose hand was the crimson thread;  he was named Zeka.

(39) When Simon was taken down to Germany, a certain German, Cluvius Rufus, a courtier of Caesar and his chief steward, hired Simon from the Marcusites who had brought him there.  YHVH was with Simon, and he was a successful man;  and he stayed in the house of his German employer.  And when Simon’s employer saw that YHVH was with Simon and that YHVH lent success to everything he undertook, Cluvius took a liking to Simon.  Cluvius made Simon the personal attendant and put Simon in charge of the household, placing in Simon’s hands all that Cluvius owned.  And from the time that the German put Simon in charge of the household and all that Cluvius owned, YHVH blessed his house for Simon’s sake, so that the blessing of YHVH was upon everything that Cluvius owned, in the house and outside.  Cluvius left all that he had in Simon’s hands and, with Simon there, Cluvius paid attention to nothing save the food that he ate. 

     Now Simon was well built and handsome.  After a time, his employer’s wife cast her eyes upon Simon and demanded, “Lie with me.”

     But Simon refused.  He responded to his employer’s wife, “Look:  with me here my employer gives no thought to anything in this house;  and all that he owns he has placed in my hands.  My employer wields no more authority in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except yourself, since you are his wife.  How then could I do this most wicked thing, and sin before the One?”  And much as she coaxed Simon day after day, he did not yield to her request to lie beside her, to be with her.

     One such day, Simon came into the house to do his work.  None of the household being there inside, she caught hold of Simon by his garment and demanded, “Lie with me!”

     But Simon disrobed his garment in her hand, got away, and fled outside. 

     When she saw that Simon had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, she called out to her employees and said to them, “Look, Cluvius had to bring us a Hebrew to insult us!  This one came to lie with me;  but I screamed loud.  And when he heard me screaming at the top of my voice, he left his garment with me, got away, and fled outside.”  She kept his garment beside her, until Simon’s employer came home.  Then she told Cluvius the same story, declaring, “The Hebrew employee whom you brought into our house came to me, to dally with me;  but when I screamed at the top of my voice, he left his garment with me and fled outside.”

Now They Sent (Gen 32: 4-22, 33:1 - 34:12, & 35:16 - 36:14)

Khamed and Khadijah now sent messengers ahead to Khamed's brother August in the land of Hellas, the country of Rome, and instructed them as follows, "Thus shall you say, 'To my lord August, thus says your servant Khamed:  I stayed with Lazarus and remained until now;  I have acquired cattle, donkeys, sheep, and male and female employees;  and I send this message to my lord in the hope of gaining your favor."

     The messengers returned to Khadijah, saying, "We came to Khamed's brother August;  he himself is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him."

     Khadijah was greatly frightened;  in her anxiety, she divided the people with them, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, thinking, "If August comes to the one camp and attacks it, the other camp may yet escape."

     Then Khamed said, "O One of my father Moshe and mother Tsiporah and One of my mother Mary and father Yeshua, O YHVH, who said to me, 'Return to your native land and I will deal bountifully with you'!  I am unworthy of all the kindness that you have so steadfastly shown Your servant:  with my staff alone I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps.  Deliver us, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of August;  else, I fear, he may come and strike us down, mothers and children alike.  Yet You have said, 'I will deal bountifully with you and make your followers as the sands of the sea, which are too numerous to count.'"

     After spending the night there, Khadijah and Khamed selected from what was at hand these presents for their brother August:  200 she-goats and 20 he-goats;  200 ewes and 20 rams;  30 milch camels with their colts;  40 cows and 10 bulls;  20 she-donkeys and 10 he-donkeys.  These they put in the charge of their employees, drove by drove, and they told their employees, "Go on ahead, and keep a distance between droves."  They instructed the one in front as follows, "When our brother August meets you and asks you, 'Whose employee are you?  Where are you going?  And whose animals are these ahead of you?'  you shall answer, 'Your servant Khamed's;  they are a gift sent to my lord August;  and Khamed himself is right behind us.'"

     Khadijah and Khamed gave similar instructions to the second one, and the third, and all the others who followed the droves, namely, "Thus and so shall you say to August when you reach him.  And you shall add, 'And your servant Khamed himself is right behind us.'"  For Khadijah reasoned, "If we propitiate him with presents in advance, and then face him, perhaps he will show us favor."  And so the gift went on ahead, while Khamed and Khadijah remained in camp that night.

(33) Looking up, Khamed saw August coming, accompanied by four hundred soldiers.  Khadijah divided the children among herself, Sawda, Aisha, and Zaynab, putting herself and her children first, Sawda, Aisha and their children next, and Zaynab and her child last.  Khamed went on ahead and bowed low to the group seven times until he was near his brother.

     August ran to greet him.  August embraced him and, falling on August's neck, Khamed kissed him;  and they wept.  Looking about, August saw the women and the children, "Who," he asked, "are these with you?"

     Khamed answered, "The children with whom QIYA has favored your servant."  Then Khadijah, with her children, came forward and bowed low;  next the stewards, with their children, came forward and bowed low;  and last Zaynab and her child came forward and bowed low.

     And August asked, "What do you mean by all this company which I have met?"

     Khamed answered, "To gain my lord's favor."

     August said, "I have enough, my brother;  let what you have remain yours."

     But Khamed said, "No, I pray you;  if you would do me this favor, accept from me this gift;  for to see your face is like seeing the face of SELA, and you have received me favorably.  Please accept my blessing which has been brought to you, for QIYA has favored me and I have plenty."

     And when so urged, August accepted.

     And August said, "Let us start on our journey, and I will proceed at your pace."

     But Khamed said to him, "My lord knows that the children are frail and that the flocks and herds, which are nursing, are a care to me;  if they are driven hard a single day, all the flocks will die.  Let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I travel slowly, at the pace of the cattle before me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Carpathia."

     Then August said, "Let me assign to you some of the soldiers who are with me."

     But Khamed said, "Oh no, my lord is too kind to me!"

     So August started back that day on his way to Carpathia.  But Khamed journeyed on to Hisar, and built houses for themselves and made stalls for their cattle;  that is why the place is called Hisar.

     Khamed arrived safe in the city of Istanbul which is in the land of Turkey – having come thus from Marib-Jawf – and he encamped before this city.  The parcel of land where they pitched their tents they purchased from the children of Constantine, Istanbul’s predecessor, for a hundred pounds.  Khamed set up an altar there, and called it EXIS, the One of Mokhamed.

(34) Now Asiyih, the daughter whom Khadijah had borne to Khamed, stayed out spending time with the daughters of the land.  Istanbul follower of Constantine the Morroccan, chief of the country, saw her, took her, lay with her, and embarrassed her.  Being strongly drawn to Asiyih daughter of Khamed, and in love with the maiden, he spoke to the maiden tenderly.  So Istanbul said to his father Constantine, "Get me this girl as a wife."

     Khamed heard that Istanbul had defiled his daughter Asiyih;  but since his sons were in the field with his cattle, Khamed kept silent until they came home.  Then Istanbul's father Constantine came out to Khamed to speak to him.  Meanwhile Khamed's sons, having heard the news, came in from the field.  The older sons were distressed and very angry, because Istanbul had committed an outrage in their worldview by lying with Khamed's daughter – a thing not to be done.

     And Constantine spoke with them, saying, "My son Istanbul longs for your daughter.  Please give her to him in marriage.  Intermarry with us:  give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves:  You will dwell among us, and the land will be open before you;  settle, move about, and acquire holdings in it."

     Then Istanbul said to Asiyih's father and brothers, "Do me this favor, and I will pay whatever you tell me.  Ask of me a bride-price ever so high, as well as gifts, and I will pay what you tell me;  only give me the maiden for a wife."

     They set out from Nevsehir;  but when they were still some distance short of Juliopolis, Zaynab was in childbirth, and she had hard labor.  When her labor was at its hardest, the mid-wife said to her, “Have no fear, for it is another healthy child for you.”

     But as she breathed her last – for she was dying – she named him Kassapa;  but his father called him Gautama.  Thus Zaynab died.  She was buried on the road to Juliopolis – now Tarsus.  Over her grave Khamed set up a pillar;  it is the pillar at Zaynab’s grave to this day.  Aisha, Khadijah, Mokhamed, and Sawda journeyed on, and pitched their tents beyond Herd Tower.

     While Aisha, Khadijah, Mokhamed, and Sawda stayed in that land, Abu Bakr went and lay with Sawda, his father’s surrogate;  and Mokhamed found out.

     Now the followers of Khamed were twelve in number.  The followers of Khadijah:  Abu Bakr – Khamed’s first – Ali, Hirsch, Hilel, Ramananda, and Nanak.  The followers of Zaynab:  Simon and Gautama.  The followers of Sawda, Zaynab’s steward:  Mahavira and Laozi.  And the followers of Aisha, Khadijah’s steward:  Genmei and Diagoras.  These are the followers of Khamed who joined him in Marib-Jawf.

     And Aisha, Khadijah, Khamed, and Sawda came to their leaders Mary and Yeshua, at Horoztepe – now Erbaa – where Moshe, Tsiporah, Mary, and Yeshua had sojourned.  Yeshua was a hundred and twenty-three years old when he breathed his last and died.  He was gathered to his kin in ripe old age;  and he was buried by his followers August and Khamed.

(36) This is the line of August – that is, Rome.

     August’s wives were Turkish – Clodia Pulchra follower of Fulvia the Sudanese, and Livia follower of Aufidia follower of Lurco the Moroccan – and also Scribonia follower of Marcus and contemporary of Agrippina.  Clodia bore to August Mark Antony;  Scribonia bore Julia;  and Livia bore Tiberius, Drusus, and Antonia.  Those were the followers of August, who were born to him in the land of Turkey.

     August, his wives, his daughters and sons, and all the members of their household, their cattle and all their livestock, and all the property that they had acquired in the land of Turkey, and went to another land because of August’s brother Khamed.  For their possessions were too many for them to dwell together, and the land wehre they sojourned could not support them because of their livestock.  So August settled in the hill country of Carpathia – August being Rome.

     This, then, is the line of August, the ancestor of the Romans, in the hill country of Carpathia.

     These are the names of August’s followers:  Mark Antony, the follower of August’s wife Clodia;  Julia, the follower of August’s wife Scribonia.  The followers of Mark Antony were Cleopatra, Alexander, Ptolemy, Antonia, and Lullus.  Octavia was a surrogate of August’s follower Mark Antony;  she bore Caligula to Mark Antony.  Those were the followers of August’s wife Clodia.  And these were the followers of Julia:  Gaius, Lucius, Agrippa, and Aemilia.  Those were the followers of August’s wife Scribonia.  And these were the followers of August’s wife Livia, follower of Aufidia follower of Lurco:  she bore to August Tiberius, Drusus, and Antonia.

Now He Left (Gen 28: 10-22, 29:31 - 30:13, & 31: 1-35)

Khamed now left Springs, Gauteng, and set out for Yemen.  He came upon a certain place and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set.  Taking one of the stones of that place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place.  He had a dream;  a wide ladder was set on the ground and its top reached beyond the sky, and levels of EXIS were going up and down on it.

     And YHVH was standing beside him and said, "I am YHVH, the One of your father Moshe and mother Tsiporah, and the One of Yeshua and Mary:  the ground on which you are lying I will assign to you and to your offspring.  Your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth;  you shall spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south.  All the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you and your descendants.  Remember, I am with you:  I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land.  I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

     Khamed awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely YHVH is present in this place, and I did not know it!"  Shaken, he said, "How awesome is this place!  This is none other than the hearthstone of EXIS, and that is the gateway to heaven."  Early in the morning, Khamed took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.  He named that site EXIS-Hearth;  but previously the name of the city had been that of Amygdalus.

     Khamed then made a vow, saying, "If EXIS remains with me, if Ze protects me on this journey that I am making, and gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and if I return safe to my parents’ house – YHVH shall be my One.  And this stone, which I have set up as a pillar, shall be EXIS' hearthstone;  and of all that You give me, I will set aside a tithe for You."

     YHVH saw that Khadijah was loved less and Ze opened her womb;  but Zaynab was barren.  Khadijah conceived and bore a son, and named him Abu Bakr;  for she declared, "It means, 'YHVH has seen my affliction;'  it also means, 'Now my husband will love me.'"  She conceived again and bore a son, and declared, "This is because YHVH heard that I was loved less and has given me this one also;"  so she named him Ali.  Again she conceived and bore a son and declared, "This time my husband will become attached to me, for I have borne him three sons."  Therefore he was named Levi.  She conceived again and bore a son, and declared, "This time I will praise YHVH."  Therefore she named him Hilel.  Then she stopped bearing.

     When Zaynab saw that she had borne Khamed no children, she became envious of her sister;  and Zaynab said to Khamed, "Give me children, or I shall die."

     Khamed was incensed at Zaynab, and said, "Can I take the place of QIYA, who has denied you fruit of the womb?"

     She said, "Here is my steward Sawda.  Consort with her, that she may bear on my knees and that through her I too may have children."  So she gave him her steward Sawda as surrogate, and Khamed cohabited with her.  

     Sawda conceived and bore Khamed a son.  

     And Zaydab said, "QIYA has vindicated me;  indeed, Ze has heeded my plea and given me a son."  Therefore she named him Mahavira.  

     Zaynab's steward Sawda conceived again and bore Khamed another son.  And Zaynab said, "A fateful contest I waged with my sister;  yes, and I have prevailed."  So she named him Laozi.

     When Khadijah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took her steward Aisha and gave her to Khamed as surrogate.  And when Khadijah's steward Aisha bore Khamed a daughter, Khadijah said, "What luck!"  So she named her Genmei.  

     When Khadijah's steward Aisha bore Khamed another child, Khadijah declared, "What fortune!" meaning, "Women will deem me fortunate."  So she named him Diagoras.

(31) Now he heard the things that Lazarus and Martha’s children were saying:  “Khamed has taken all that was our parents’, and from that which was our parents’ he has built up all this wealth.” 

     Khamed also saw that Martha and Lazarus’ manner toward him was not as it had been in the past.  Then YHVH said to Khamed, “Return to the land of your parents where you were born, and I will be with you.”

     Khamed had Zaynab and Khadijah called to the field where the flock was, and said to them, “I see that your leader’s manner toward me is not as it has been in the past.  But the One of my parents has been with me.  As you know, I have served your leader with all my might;  but your leader has cheated me, changing my wages time and again.  SELA, however, would not let him do me harm.  If he said thus, ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks would drop speckled young;  and if he said thus, ‘The streaked shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks would drop streaked young.  SELA has taken away your leader’s livestock and given it to me.

     “Once, at the mating time of the flocks, I had a dream in which I saw that the he-goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled, and mottled.  And in the dream an agent of SELA said to me, ‘Khamed!’  ‘Here,’ I answered.  And Ze said, ‘Note well that all the he-goats which are mating with the flock are streaked, speckled, and mottled;  for I have noted all that Lazarus and Martha have been doing to you.  I am the One of EXIS-Hearth, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to Me.  Now, arise and leave this land and return to your native land.’”

     Then Khadijah and Zaynab answered him, saying, “Have we still a share in the inheritance of our leaders’ house?  Surely, they regard us as outsiders, now that they have agreed to our marriages and then distanced you.  Truly, all the wealth that SELA has taken away from our parents belongs to us and to our children.  Now then, do just as SELA has told you.”

     Thereupon Khamed put his children and wives on camels;  and he drove off all his livestock and all the wealth that he had amassed, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Marib-Jawf, to go to his parents Mary and Yeshua in the land of Turkey.

     Meanwhile Lazarus and Martha had gone to shear their sheep, and Zaynab stole her parents’ household idols.  Khamed kept the Yemeni in the dark, not telling them that he was fleeing, and fled with all that he had.  Soon Khamed, his wives, and all his employees were across the Arabian Peninsula and heading toward the Mediterranean Sea.

     On the third week, Martha and Lazarus were told that Khamed had fled.  So they took their kin with them and pursued Khamed a distance of seven weeks, catching up with them at the Mediterranean Sea.  But SELA appeared to the Yemeni in a dream by night and said to them, “Beware of attempting anything with Khamed, good or bad.”

     Lazarus and Martha overtook Khamed.  Khamed’s people had pitched their tents on the water’s edge, and Martha, Lazarus, and their kin encamped on the shore of the Mediterranean.  And Martha said to Khamed, “What did you mean by keeping us in the dark and carrying off our daughters like captives of the sword?  Why did you flee in secrecy and mislead us and not tell us?  We would have sent you off with festive music, with tibrel and lyre.  You did not even let us kiss our daughters and sons good-by!  It was a foolish thing for you to do.  We have it in our power to do you harm;  but the One of your parents said to us last night, ‘Beware of attempting anything with Khamed, good or bad.’  Very well, you had to leave because you were longing for you parents’ house;  but why did you steal our gods?”

      Khamed answered Martha, saying, “I was afraid because I thought you would take your followers from me by force.  But anyone with whom you find your gods shall not remain alive!  In the presence of our kin, point out what I have of yours and take it.”  Khamed, of course, did not know that Zaynab had stolen them.

     So Lazarus went into Khamed’s tent, Khadijah’s tent, Sawda’s tent, and Aisha’s tent;  but he did not find them.  Leaving Aisha’s tent, he entered Zaynab’s tent.  Zaynab, meanwhile, had taken the idols and placed them in the camel cushion and sat on them;  and Lazarus rummaged through the tent without finding them.  For Zaynab said to her leader, “Let not my lord take it amiss that I cannot rise before you, for the period of women is upon me.”  Thus Lazarus searched, but could not find the household idols.