Now when they lived so wickedly before you, you did choose a man from among them, whose name was Abraham. Him you loved, and unto him only you shewed your will: And made an everlasting covenant with him, promising him that you would never forsake his seed. And unto him you gave Isaac, and unto Isaac also you gave Jacob and Esau. As for Jacob, you did choose him to you, and put by Esau: and so Jacob became a great multitude. And it came to pass, that when you led his seed out of Egypt, you brought them up to the mount Sinai. And bowing the heavens, you did set fast the earth, moved the whole world, and made the depths to tremble, and troubled the men of that age. And your glory went through four gates, of fire, and of earthquake, and of wind, and of cold; that you might give the law unto the seed of Jacob, and diligence unto the generation of Israel. And yet you took not away from them a wicked heart, that your law might bring forth fruit in them. For the first Adam bearing a wicked heart transgressed, and was overcome; and so be all they that are born of him. Thus infirmity was made permanent; and the law also in the heart of the people with the malignity of the root; so that the good departed away, and the evil abode still. So the times passed away, and the years were brought to an end: then did you raise yourself up a servant, called David: Whom you commanded to build a city unto your name, and to offer incense and oblations unto you therein.
