Odes of Solomon/Ode 20

Do Not Kill Your Own Soul

¹ I am a priest of the Lord,

and to him I serve as a priest,

² and to him I offer the sacrifice of his thought.

³ For his thought is not like the thought of the age,

nor like the thought of the flesh,

nor like those who serve according to the flesh.

⁴ The sacrifice of the Lord is justice,

and purity of heart and lips.

⁵ Sacrifice your mind without blemish,

and let not your feelings oppress another’s feelings,

nor let your soul oppress another’s soul.

⁶ Do not kill your own soul by owning a foreigner,

nor seek to defraud your neighbor,

nor deprive him of the covering of his nakedness.

⁷ But cover yourself with the Lord’s steadfast love without envy,

and come into his paradise

and make a wreath for yourself from his tree,

⁸ and set it on your head and rejoice,

and lean on his resting place.

⁹ And his glory will go before you,

and you will receive of his kindness and of his steadfast love,

and with truth your health will flourish in the glory of his holiness.

¹⁰ Glory and honor to his name!

Hallelujah!