It is good to be lowly in heart, to hate evil,
And, above all, to love one’s neighbor as oneself,
To love God with all one’s soul and to serve him.
For this we shall be called “brothers,” who stem
from the holy race
Of the Messiah in heaven. In our meetings for worship
We remember the joy; we tread the paths of godliness
and truth.
Never may we approach the inner shrines of the temples,
Or make offerings to idols, or honor them with vows
And the delightful fragrance of flowers and the gleam
of torches,
Or adorn [them] with splendid gifts and oblations,
Nor may we light the altar with flames and the perfume
of incense,
Nor when sacrificing a bull may we send with the libation
The blood of a sacrificed sheep, as a ransom
for earthly punishment,
Nor may we pollute the purity of the ether with the oily smoke
Of flesh-consuming pyres and abominable smells.
But let us be glad with a holy mind and understanding,
With joyful hearts, with abundant gifts of love,
And mild and generous hands. With gracious psalms and songs
Worthy of our God, we are urged and impelled
To sing to thee, the everlasting, ever-faithful God:
The father of all, the all-knowing God.
Sibylline Oracles Book VIII.480-500.
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