ABSTRACT
And they bade [the king] farewell and departed. And first of all they set ZION by night upon a wagon together with a mass of worthless stuff, and dirty clothes, and stores of every sort and kind. And [when] all the wagons were loaded, and the masters of the caravan rose up, and the horn was blown, and the city became excited, and the youths shouted loudly, awesomeness crowned it and grace surrounded it (i.e., ZION). And the old men wailed, and the children cried out, and the widows wept, and the virgins lamented, because the sons of their nobles, the mighty men of ISRAEL, had risen up to depart. But the city did not weep for them alone, but because the majesty of the city had been carried off with them. And although they did not know actually that ZION had been taken from them, they made no mistake in their hearts and they wept bitterly; and they were then even as they were when God slew the firstborn of EGYPT. There was not a house wherein there was not wailing, from man even to the beast; the dogs
howled, and the asses screamed, and all those who were left there mingled their tears together. It was as though the generals of a mighty army had besieged the great city, and had captured it by assault, and looted it, and taken its people prisoners and slain them with the edge of the sword; even thus was that city of ZIONJERUSALEM.
