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The Community Rule — Column 9

The Qumran Community · a new plain-English translation from the original language

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For concerning [...] one inadvertent sin he shall be punished two years, but the one who acts with a high hand shall not return again [...] but the one who errs inadvertently

shall be examined for two years' time as to the perfection of his way and his counsel, according to the Many [...] and afterward he shall be enrolled in his rank in the holy Community [...]

When these things come to be in Israel, according to all these regulations, as a foundation of the holy spirit, for eternal

truth, to atone for the guilt of transgression and the unfaithfulness of sin, and for the favor of the land, more than the flesh of burnt offerings and the fat of sacrifice [...] and the offering

of the lips shall be as a righteous ordinance, like a pleasing odor of righteousness, and perfection of way like an acceptable freewill offering [...] at that time the men of

the Community shall set apart a house of holiness for Aaron, to be united as a holy of holies, and a house of community for Israel, those who walk in perfection [...]

Only the sons of Aaron shall have authority in judgment and in property [...] and by their word shall the lot go out for every rank of the men of the Community

and the property of the men of holiness who walk in perfection [...] their property shall not be mixed with the property of the men of deceit who

have not purified their way to separate from injustice and to walk in perfection of way [...] and from all the counsel of the Torah they shall not depart to walk

in all the stubbornness of their heart [...] but they shall be judged by the first ordinances by which the men of the Community began to be disciplined

until the coming of a prophet and the anointed ones of Aaron and Israel [...]

These are the statutes for the Instructor, to walk in them with every living being, according to the rule of each and every time, and according to the measure of each and every man [...]

to do the will of God according to all that is revealed from time to time, and to learn all the insight that has been found according to the times, and

the statute of the time [...] to separate and to weigh the sons of Zadok according to their spirit, and to hold fast to the chosen ones of the time according to

his will, as he commanded [...] and each man according to his spirit, so shall his judgment be carried out; and each man according to the purity of his hands shall he be brought near, and according to his insight

shall he be advanced. And so too his love along with his hatred [...] and that one should not reprove nor dispute with the men of the pit

but conceal the counsel of the Torah in the midst of the men of injustice, and reprove with true knowledge and righteous judgment those who choose

the way, each man according to his spirit, according to the rule of the time, to guide them in knowledge, and so to instruct them in the wondrous mysteries and truth in the midst of

the men of the Community, so that each may walk in perfection with his fellow in all that has been revealed to them [...] this is the time to clear the way

into the wilderness [...] and to instruct them in all that has been found to do at this time, and to separate from every man, and not to turn his way aside

from any injustice [...] And these are the rules of the way for the Instructor in these times, for his love along with his hatred [...] everlasting hatred

toward the men of the pit, in a spirit of concealment, leaving to them property and the toil of hands, like a slave to the one who rules over him, and humility before

the one who dominates him [...] and to be a man zealous for the statute and its time, for the day of vengeance, to do the will of God in every undertaking of the hands

and in all his dominion, as he commanded [...] and all that is done by him he shall do willingly, as a freewill offering, and apart from the will of God he shall desire nothing [...]

[and] [in] all the words of his mouth he shall delight, and he shall not desire anything that he has not commanded; [and] for the judgment of God he shall wait continually

[...] he shall bless his Maker, and in all that comes to pass he shall [recount] [...] [the offering] of the lips shall bless Him

An original translation made in 2026 by Scriptorium Press, working directly from the original language text (never from another English translation), in one consistent modern voice. Free to read, download, and listen — no accounts, no ads, nothing for sale.

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