1 Meqabyan (Ethiopian) 3

And a voice came from heaven, saying, Abya and Seela and Fentos, servants of God Most High: just as you have seen these who died and rose again before your eyes, so likewise you shall rise after your death, and your faces shall shine in the kingdom of heaven.

And they went with those men and became martyrs there.

And then they prayed and gave thanks and bowed down to the Lord; and death did not frighten them, nor the judgment of the king.

And those servants came to them and did not frighten them, but they themselves were as meek as a lamb without malice; and when they reached them, they seized them and beat them and bound them and scourged them, and brought them to the king and set them before him.

And the king answered and said to them, You rebels, how is it that you do not sacrifice and do not bow down to my gods?

And those holy and blessed and chosen and joyful brothers, Abya and Seela and Fentos, honoured like a pearl of the sea of wondrous worth, answered him as with one mouth.

And they said to that pestilent king, As for us, we will not sacrifice nor bow down to defiled idols that have no heart and no understanding.

And again, they are gold and silver, wood and stone, the work of the hands of men, having no soul nor reason nor understanding; they do no good to those who serve them, and do no harm to those who oppose them.

And the king answered them and said, Why do you do this and blaspheme against my honoured gods? For they too know who reproaches them and blasphemes against them.

And they answered and said to him, As for us, we blaspheme them and do not honour them, because they are as nothing in our sight.

And the king answered and said to them, According to the evil of your deeds I will judge you, and I will destroy the comeliness of your countenance with great tribulation and with scourging and with fire.

And now tell me whether you will sacrifice to my gods or not; otherwise I will raise up against you the scourge of beating, the cord, and the sword.

And they answered and said to him, As for us, we will not bow down nor sacrifice to defiled idols. And the king commanded that they be struck with great staves, and afterward with a scourge, and after that that they be cut open until the organs within them could be seen.

And after this they bound them and cast them into a prison, into a house of iron, until he should take counsel as to how he might kill and condemn them.

And they took them to the prison and bound them grievously, with a heavy bond and without mercy; and they remained in the prison house three days and three nights.

And after the third day the king commanded that a herald should go round, that the nobles and the counselors and the officials and the elders of the city should be gathered together.

And King Tseerutsaydan, having taken his seat in the assembly, commanded that those blessed ones, Abya and Seela and Fentos, be brought before him, bound and wounded.

And the king said to them, Is it that you have repented while you sat these three days, or are you still in your former wickedness?

And the blessed ones, the soldiers of the Lord, answered him and said, As for us, we are steadfast, and we will not say Yes to that blasphemy full of evil and defilement which you utter.

And that ruler was enraged, and he commanded that they be hung up and that their wounds be opened afresh, and their blood flowed down upon the ground.

And again he commanded that they be burned with a flaming torch and that their flesh be scorched; and they did so. But the blessed ones said to him, Speak on, O foul one; for as you multiply our punishment, so our reward is multiplied.

And again he commanded that they bring fierce wild beasts, a leopard and a panther and a lion, to be set loose upon them while kept hungry, that at that moment they might consume them together with their bones.

And he commanded the keepers of the beasts to set them loose upon them; and they did as he commanded. And they bound the hands of the holy martyrs behind them, and again they bound them with tent-stakes which they had made for the purpose.

And those beasts sprang upon them roaring; but when they reached the martyrs, they bowed down to them and did them reverence.

And they returned to their keepers roaring, and frightened the keepers; and they led them away until they brought them before the face of the king.

And there, of the camp of the rebels, seventy-five souls were slain.

And many were crushed, being trampled in fear one upon another, until the king himself left his throne and fled; and with great difficulty they caught the beasts and took them to their dens.

And there came two of the brothers, and they loosed the prisoners from their bonds, and said to them, Come, let us flee, lest these unbelievers and rebels find us.

And the martyrs answered and said to their brothers, It is not fitting for us to flee after we have stood up to bear witness; but if you are afraid, go and flee yourselves.

And those younger brothers said, We too will stand with you before the king, and if you die, we also will die with you.

And after this the king looked out from the roof of the hall of his kingdom and saw that those blessed ones had been released and were standing together, and he asked concerning them.

And the king commanded that the five brothers be seized and cast into the prison until he should take counsel as to how he might condemn them; and they cast them into the prison and bound them grievously, with a heavy bond, in the cleft of a log, and without mercy.

And King Tseerutsaydan said, These erring young men have wearied me. How great is the firmness of the hearts of these men, who, even as their might is strong, so is the evil of their deeds! And when I say, They will turn, they only make their hearts the more evil.

And I will repay them according to the evil of their deeds, and I will burn their flesh in fire until it becomes ash; and when it is charred, then I will scatter the burnt flesh like dust upon a great mountain, that the wind may carry it away.

And after he had said this, he waited three days, and commanded that the holy ones be brought; and when these holy ones had drawn near, he commanded that a fire be kindled within a furnace and within a great pit, and that there be cast into it cauldrons of pitch and boiling things of fire, pitch and papyrus and fat, and honey of the wilderness, and naphtha, and sulphur.

And when the furnace was boiling, the king's servants went to him, saying, We have done what you commanded us; send the men who are to be cast in.

And he commanded that they take them and cast them into the furnace of fire; and they did as the king commanded them. And when those blessed ones had entered into it, they gave up their souls to the Lord.

And the angels received them, while those who had cast them in looked on; and they bore their souls into the bosom of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, into the garden of gladness.