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He said to me: "In the beginning of the earthly world— before the world's exits were made, before the gathered winds blew,
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before the voices of the thunders sounded, before the flashes of lightning shone, before paradise's foundations were made firm,
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before beautiful flowers were seen, before the powers of movement were established, before the innumerable heavenly armies of angels were assembled,
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before the heights of the air were lifted up, before the measures of the firmament were named, before Zion's footstool was established,
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before the present years were reckoned, before the imaginations of those who now sin were alienated, before those who stored up faith as a treasure were sealed—
Footnotes 1
[a].
Lat in the beginning, the earthly world; Syr and other versions The beginning is through man and the end is through me.