in My days, but also those who are hid in the dust; and that not only the dead should be

saved who are in My days, but also those who have died from the days of the first Adam

till now; and not those, but also those who have been prematurely born. And only these,

but also those who have come into Thy knowledge to create them, but have not yet been

created. Thus I agree, and thus I take all upon Me. In the hebdomad when the Son of

David comes, they shall bring beams of iron, and shall make them a yoke to His neck,

until His stature is bent down. But He cries and weeps, and lifts up His voice on high, and

says before Him: Lord of the world, what is My strength, My spirit, and My soul, and My

members? Am I not flesh and blood? In that honor David (the Son of David) weeps, and

says: 'My strength is dried up like a potsherd.' In that hour the Holy One, blessed be His

Name, says: Ephraim the Messiah, My righteous one, Thou hast already taken this upon

Thee before the six days of the world, now Thy anguish shall be like My anguish; for

from the time that Nebuchadnezzar, the wicked one, has come up and destroyed My

house, and burned My Sanctuary, and I have sent into captivity My children among the

children of the Gentiles, by My life, and by the life of Thy head, I have not sat down on

My throne. And if Thou wilt not believe Me, see the dew which is on My head, as it is

said (Cant. v. 2) 'My head is filled with dew.' In that hour the Messiah a nswers Him: Lord

of the world, now I am quieted, for it is enough for the servant that he is as his Master

(his reminding us of our Lord's saying, St. Matt. x. 25 ). R. Isaac then remarks that in the

year when the King Messiah shall be revealed, all nations shall rise up against each other

(we have already quoted this passage in another place, as also that about the Messiah

standing upon the roof of the Temple). Then follows this as a tradition of the Rabbis: In

the latter days the Fathers shall stand up in the month of Nisan, and say to Him: Ephraim,

the Messiah, our Righteousness, though we are Thy Fathers, yet Thou art better than we,

because Thou hast borne all the sins of our sons, and hard and evil measure has passed

upon Thee, such as has not been passed either upon those before or upon those after. And

Thou hast been for laughter and derision to the nations for the sake of Israel, and Thou

hast dwelt in darkness and in mist, and Thine eyes have not seen light, and Thy light

clung to Thee alone, and Thy body was dried up like wood, and Thine eyes were

darkened through fasting, and Thy strength was dried up like a postsherd. And all this on

account of the sins of our children. Is it Thy pleasure that our sons should enjoy the good

thing which God had displayed to Israel? Or perhaps on account of the anguish which

Thou hast suffered for them, because they have bound Thee in the prison- house, wilt

Thou not give unto them thereof? He says to them: Fathers of the world, whatever I have

done I have done for yo ur sakes, and for the sake of your children, that they may enjoy

that goodness which the Holy One, blessed be He, has displayed to Israel. Then say to

Him the Fathers of the world: Ephraim, Messiah, our Righteousness, be Thou reconciled

to us, because Thou hast reconciled They Maker and us. R. Simeon, the son of Pasi, In

that hour the Holy One, blessed be His Name, exalts the Messiah to the heaven of

heavens, and spreads over Him the splendour of His glory, because of the nations of the

world, and because o f the wicked Persians. Then the Fathers of the world say to Him:

Ephraim, Messiah, our Righteousness, be Thou their judge, and do to them what Thy soul

desireth. For unless mercies had been multiplied on Thee, they would long ago have

exterminated Thee sud denly from the world, as it is written (Jer. xxxi. 20) 'Is Ephraim my

dear son?' And why is the expression: 'I will surely have mercy' [in the Hebrew