ABSTRACT
And the Queen said unto AZARIAH, "Speak and declare how much thou lovest our Lady with her Heavenly King."
90. How AZARIAH praised the Queen and her city And AZARIAH rose up and said unto the Queen, "0
our Lady, verily there is no one like unto thee in wisdom and understanding-the which have been given unto thee by God-except my lord the King, who hath brought us unto this land with our Lady ZION, the holy and heavenly Tabernacle of the Law of God. Now we and our fathers of olden time have said, God hath chosen none except the House of JACOB, us hath He chosen, us hath He multiplied, us hath He held to please Him, and He hath made us kings and made us members of His
household, and councillors of His glory and of the Tabernacle of His covenant. And as for a country, we say that He hath chosen no country except ours, but now we see that the country of ETHIOPIA is better than the country of JUDAH. And from the time that we arrived in your country everything that we have seen hath appeared good to us. Your waters are good and they are given without price (or, payment), and [we have] air without fans, and wild honey is as [plentiful as] the dust of the market place, and cattle as the sand of the sea. And as for what we have seen there is nothing detestable, and there is nothing malign in what we hear, and in what we walk upon, and in what we touch, and in what we taste with our mouths. But there is one matter that we would mention: ye are black of face-I only state this [fact] because I can see [that ye are]-but if God illumineth (i.e., maketh white) your hearts, [as far as your colour is concerned] nothing can injure you.
