Excerpts from ‘The Thanksgiving Hymns’ from the Dead Sea Scrolls
“…I have counted twenty‑five compositions similar to the biblical Psalms. They are all Hymns of Thanksgiving… expressing a rich variety of spiritual and doctrinal detail. But the two fundamental themes running through the whole collection are those of Salvation and Knowledge. The sectary thanks God continually for having been saved/delivered from the ‘lot’ of the Wicked, and for His gift of insight into the Divine Mysteries. He, a ‘creature of clay’, has been singled out by his Maker to receive favors of which he feels himself unworthy and he alludes again and again to his frailty and total dependence on God.” ‘The Introduction’
The Thanksgiving Hymns 1:1 “You are long‑suffering in Your Judgments and Righteous in all Your deeds.”
TH 1:2 “By Your Wisdom all things exist from eternity, and before creating them You knew their works forever and ever. Nothing is done without You and nothing is known unless You desire it.”
TH 1:3 “You have created all the spirits and have established a Statute and Law for all their works.”
TH 1:4 “You have spread the Heavens for Your Glory and have appointed all their Hosts according to Your Will; the Mighty Winds according to their Laws before they became Angels of Holiness . . . and Eternal Spirits in their dominions; the Heavenly Lights to their mysteries, the Stars to their paths, the Clouds to their tasks, the Thunderbolts and Lightnings to their duty, and the Perfect Treasuries to their purposes, . . . to their mysteries.”
TH 1:5 “You have created the earth by Your power and the seas and depths by Your Might. You have fashioned all their inhabitants according to Your Wisdom and have appointed all that is in them according to Your Will.”
TH 1:6 “And to the spirit of Adam which You have formed in the world, You have given dominion over the works of Your hands for everlasting days and unending generations. . . . in their ages.”
TH 1:7 “You have allotted to them tasks during all their generations, and judgment in their appointed seasons/times according to the rule of the Two Spirits. For You have established their ways forever and ever, and have ordained from eternity their visitation for reward and chastisements/correction;”
TH 1:8 “You have allotted it to all their seed for eternal generations and everlasting years … In the Wisdom of Your Knowledge You did establish their destiny before ever they were. All things exist according to Your Will and without You nothing is done.”
TH 1:9 “These things I know by the Wisdom which comes from You, for You have unstopped my ears to Your Marvelous Mysteries.”
TH 1:10 “And yet I, a shape of clay kneaded in water, a ground of shame and a source of pollution, a melting‑pot of wickedness and an edifice of sin, a straying and perverted spirit of no understanding, fearful of Righteous Judgments, what can I say that is not foreknown, and what can I utter that is not foretold?”
TH 1:11 “All things are graven before You on a written Reminder for everlasting ages and for the numbered cycles of the eternal years in all their seasons; they are not hidden or absent from You.”
TH 1:12 “What shall a man say concerning his sin? And how shall he plead concerning his iniquities? And how shall he reply to Righteous Judgment? For Yours, O God of Knowledge, are all Righteous deeds and the Counsel of Truth; but to the sons of men is the work of iniquity and deeds of deceit.”
TH 1:13 “It is You who have created Breath for the tongue and You know its words; You did establish the fruit of the lips before ever they were. You do set words to measure and the flow of breath from the lips to meter. You bring forth sounds according to their mysteries, and the flow of breath from the lips according to its reckoning, that they may tell of Your Glory and recount Your Wonders in all Your works of Truth and in all Your Righteous Judgments; and that Your Name be praised by the mouth of all men, and that they may know You according to their understanding and bless You forever.”
TH 1:14 “By Your mercies and by Your great goodness, You have strengthened the spirit of Adam in the face of the scourge, and have purified the erring spirit of a multitude of sins, that it may declare Your marvels in the presence of all Your Creation. I will declare to the assembly of the simple the Judgments by which I was scourged, and to the sons of men, all Your wonders by which You have shown Yourself Mighty in me in the presence of the sons/children of Adam.”
TH 1:15 “Hear, O you wise men and meditate on Knowledge; O you fearful, be steadfast! Increase in prudence, O all you simple; O Just/ Righteous men, put away iniquity, Hold fast to the Covenant, O all you Perfect of Way; O all you afflicted with misery, be patient and don’t despise Righteous Judgment! . . . but the foolish of heart shall not comprehend these things…”
TH 1:16 “. . . Upon my uncircumcised lips You have laid a reply. You have upheld my soul, strengthening my loins and restoring my power; my foot has stood in the realm of ungodliness. I have been a snare to those who rebel, but Healing to those of them who repent, Prudence to the simple, and steadfastness to the fearful of heart. To traitors You have made of me a mockery and scorn, but a Counsel of Truth and Understanding to the Upright of Way. I have been iniquity for the Wicked, ill‑repute on the lips of the fierce, the scoffers have gnashed their teeth. I have been a byword to traitors, the assembly of the Wicked has raged against me; they have roared like turbulent seas and their towering waves have spat out mud and slime. But to the Elect of Righteousness You have made me a banner and a discerning interpreter of Wonderful Mysteries, to try those who practice Truth and to test those who love correction. To the interpreters of error I have been an opponent, but a Man of Peace to all those who see Truth. To all those who seek smooth things I have been a spirit of zeal; like the sound of the roaring of many waters so have all the deceivers thundered against me; all their thoughts were devilish scheming.”
TH 1:17 “They have cast towards the Pit the life of the man whose mouth You have confirmed, and into whose heart You have put Teaching and Understanding, that he might open a Fountain of Knowledge to all people of Insight…”