The Temple and The Demons

VI
The Temple and The Demons

1. JERUSALEM, 966 B.C.E.

TEMPLE CONSTRUCTION
PLANS ARE COMPLETED
White Marble Featured
In Solomon's Edifice


WHILE MAKEDA brooded over Tamrin's words concerning the King of the North, Solomon cupped his ear toward the heavens and heard the voice of God.
On April 17, 966 B.C.E., in the fourth year of his reign, actual construction began on the Temple. It had been 592 years after Moses had led the Hebrew children out of Egypt and now his descendants had become one of most powerful nations in the known world.
Its location was at the top of Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to Solomon's father, King David, and where the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite had been, David had selected it as the site for the Temple.
The foundation was 90 feet long and 30 feet wide with the body of the building white marble and it stood two storeys tall. A covered porch ran along the entire 30-foot width of the house, with the inner walls and ceiling overlaid with pure gold. The roof was 180 feet high.
The main part of the Temple was panelled with cypress wood, plated with pure gold from Paravaim, and engraved with palm trees and chains. Beautiful jewels were inlaid into the walls to add to its beauty. All the walls, beams, doors, and thresholds throughout the Temple were plated with gold, with angels engraved on the walls.
Within the Temple, at one end, was the most sacred room -- the Holy of Holies -- 30 feet square. This too was overlaid with the finest gold. Twenty-six ounce gold nails were used. The upper rooms were also plated with gold.
Within the innermost room, the Holy of Holies, Solomon placed two sculptured statues of angels, and plated them with gold. They stood on the floor facing the outer room, with wings outstretched wingtip to wingtip across the room, from wall to wall. Across the entrance to this room he placed a veil of blue and crimson fine-spun linen, decorated with angels.

2.

SOLOMON ALSO built a bronze altar 30 feet long, 30 feet wide and 15 feet high. In addition, he forged a huge round tank 15 feet across from rim to rim. The rim stood 7 1/2 feet above the floor and was 45 feet around. This tank was set on the backs of two rows of metal oxen. The tank and the oxen were cast as one piece. There were 12 of these oxen standing tail to tail, three facing north, three west, three south, and three east. The walls of the tank were five inches thick, flaring out like the cup of a lily. It held 3,000 barrels of water.
He also constructed 10 vats of water to wash the offerings, five to the right of the huge tank and five to the left. The priests used the tank, and not the vats, for their own washing.
Carefully following Yahweh's instructions, he then cast 10 gold lampstands and placed them in the Temple, five against each wall; he also built 10 tables and placed five against each wall on the right and the left; and he molded 100 solid gold bowls. Then Solomon constructed a court for the priests, also the public court, and overlaid the doors of these courts with bronze. The huge tank was in the southeast corner of the outer room of the Temple.
Huramabi, the artisansent to Jerusalem by King Hiram of Tyre, also made the necessary pots, shovels, and basins for use in connection with the sacrifices. So, at last, he completed the work assigned to him by King Solomon: The construction of the two pillars; the two flared capitals on the tops of the pillars; the two sets of chains on the capitals; the 400 pomegranates hanging from the two sets of chains on the capitals; the bases for the vats, and the vats themselves; the huge tank and the the dozen oxen under it; plus the pots, shovels and fleshhooks. All these items were of polished bronze.
The king did the casting at the clay banks of the Jordan valley between Succoth and Zeredah. Great quantities of bronze were used, too heavy to weigh.
But in the Temple only gold was used, for Solomon commanded that all the utensils, the altar, and the table for the Bread of the Presence must be made of gold; also the lamps and lampstands, the floral decorations, tongs, lamp, snuffers, basins, spoons and firepans -- all were made of pure gold. Even th doorways of the Temple, the main door, and the inner doors of the Holy of Holies were of gold.

3.

WHILE THE Temple was being built to house the golden container -- the Glory of the King -- Solomon encountered a host of demonic forces, which eventually came under his control.
It began, innocently enough, when he noticed that Huramabi's young apprentice, Joseph, had begun losing weight.
"What's the matter, Joseph?" asked Solomon, with grave concern, for the king was fond of the tousled-haired youngster, so much so that he gave him double wages and provisions.
Prompted by the concern, the frail youth related a strange occurrence.

Joseph: After work on the Temple is done for the day and when sun has set, an evil spirit comes and makes off with half my pay and half my provisions. He also grabs my right hand and sucks my thumb. You can see that my soul is in distress and my body grows thinner every day.

Solomon was shocked.
He immediately went into the half-completed Temple and knelt at the great altar, praying for power to deal with this demon. While he was pleading , the Archangel Michael appeared with a ring, which had a seal engraved with a precious stone.

Archangel Michael: Solomon, son of David, take the gift which the Lord God has sent to you and with it you will imprison all the demons, both male and female, and with their help you will build Jerusalem when you bear this seal of God.

The following day, the monarch gave the seal to Joseph with certain instructions.

Solomon: At the moment the demon appears to you, fling this ring into his chest and say to him, 'Come! Solomon summons you!' and come running back to me as fast as you can before he says anything that would frighten you.

The evil spirit, named Ornais, came at his usual time, at dusk, to harass the youngster. Without hesitation, the demon was struck in the chest with the ring.

Joseph (yelling and immediately he started to run): Come! Solomon summons you!
Ornais (screaming and snarling): Why, have you done this? Remove the ring and give it back to Solomon, and I'll give you all the silver and gold of the earth.
Joseph (to Solomon): I brought the demon to you just as you commanded me. There he is standing bound in front of the gates, crying out with a great voice that he'd give me all the gold and silver on earth so I wouldn't deliver him to you.

The ruler got up from his throne and saw the black and shadowy figure trembling with fear.

Solomon: What's your name? Who are you?
The demon: I'm called Ornais.
Solomon: Tell me in which side of the zodiac do you reside?
Ornais (snarling): In Aquarias -- the Waterpourer. I strangle those who reside in Aquarias because of their passion for women whose zodiacal sign is Virgo. Meanwhile, while in a trance I undergo three transformations. Sometimes, I'm a man who craves the bodies of effeminate boys and when I sexually abuse them, they suffer great pain. (Smirking) Sometimes, I become the creature with wings flying up in the heavenly regions. Finally, I assume he appearance of a roaring lion. In addition, I'm descended from the archangel of the power of God, but I'm foiled by the Archangel Uriel.

After Solomon had sealed the demon, he ordered him into the Kidron quarry to cut Temple stones, which had been transported by way of the Gulf of Akaba and dumped along the seashore.
Ornais, being terrified to to touch any iron instruments, pleaded: "I beg you, King Solomon, let me have a measure of freedom, and I'll bring up all the demons."
Knowing that Ornais was subject to the Archangel Uriel's commands, Solomon again prayed for assistance and dramatically Uriel appeared in the skies over Jerusalem.
The entity forced Ornais to cut stones and to help complete the Temple's construction.

4.

SOLOMON GAVE the demon the seal and said, "Go and bring out the Prince of Demons, Beelzebub."
Ornais took the ring and went to Beelzebub, and said: "Come! Solomon summons you!" while jabbing the ring into the Prince's chest. He screamed as if if he had been burned with a red-hot prod.
"Tell me, who are you?" asked the king.
The chief demon, with the skeletal features, glared and bellowed arrogantly: "I am Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."
Solomon demanded an explanation of the manifestations of the demons.
There was compliance, for Beelzebub promised to bring all the unclean spirits.
"Are there any female demons?"
"Yes."
"I want to see one."

5.

BEELZEBUB SCURRIED off and returned with one who had a woman's body, with fair complexion, but her legs were those of a mule.

Solomon: Tell me who you are?
(She identified herself as Onoskelis)
Onoskelis: I'm a spirit which has been made into a body. I recline in a den on the earth. I make my home in caves. However, I've a many-sided character. Sometimes, I strangle men; sometimes I pervert thm from their true natures. Most of the time, my habitats are cliffs, caves and ravines ... Frequently, I also associate with men, who think of me as a woman, especially with those whose skin is honey-colored, for we're of the same constellation -- Capricorn, the Goat. It's also true that they worship the star secretly and openly. They don't know that they deceive themselves and excite me to be an evildoer all the more, for they want to obtain gold by remembering me, but I grant little to those who seriously worship me.
Solomon: How did you come into being?
Onoskelis: I was generated from an unexpected voice, which is called a voice of the echo of a black heaven, emitted in matter.
Solomon: By what heavenly body do you travel?
Onoskelis: By the full moon, because by the moon, I pass over things.
Solomon: What angels foils you?
Onoskelis: One that is also in you, King.

Solomon, on hearing what he thought to be a rude remark, commanded a soldier to strike Onoskelis.
"I say to you, King, by God's wisdom I have been entrusted I have been entrusted your power," she yelped.
Solomon commanded, in Yahweh's name, that she spin hemp for the ropes used in the Temple's construction. Onoskelis was sealed and bound in such a way that she was made powerless. Shen then was forced to stand night and day spinning the hemp.
Commanding another demon be brought to him, Beelzebub brought the bound evil spirit, Asmodeus.

6.

THE FAMILIAR questioning began.

Solomon: Who are you?
Asmodeus (scowling): And who are you?
Solomon: You dare to answer so arrogantly when you've been punished like this?
Asmodeus (continuing to snarl and make threatening noises): How should I answer you? You're the son of a man. Although I was born of a human mother, I'm the son of an angel. It's impossible for one of heavly origin to speak an arrogant to one of earthly origin. My constellation is like an animal which reclines in its den in heaven; some call me the Great Bear, but others the offspring of a dragon. Moreover, a smaller constellation accompanies my constellation, for the high position and throne of my father is always in the sky. So don't ask me so many things, Solomon, for eventually your kingdom will be divided. This glory of yours is temporary. You have us to torture for a little while; then we will disperse among human beings again with the result that we will be worshipped as gods because men don't know the angels who rule over us.

Solomon had him bound even more and also ordered him flogged.

Asmodeus (crying): I am the renowned Asmodeus. I cause the wickedness of men to spread throughout the world. I'm always hatching plots against newlyweds. I mar the beauty of virgins and cause their hearts to grow cold.
Solomon: Is that all you do?
Asmodeus: I spread madness about women through the stars and I have often committed a rash of murders.
Solomon: Tell me, Asmodeus, by which angel are you foiled?
Asmodeus: Raphael, the one who stands before God and sets over all the diseases and all the wounds of mankind; but also a smoking heart and a liver of a fish from the Tigris drives me away.
Solomon: Are you hiding anything from me? Tell me the name of the fish you fear?
Asmodeus: It's called the sheatfish, a catfish found in the rivers of Assyria and it's hatched only there. I'm also found in those parts.
Solomon: Is there not something else about you, Asmodeus?
Asmodeus: The power of God which binds me with unbreakable bonds by his seal knows that which I have related to you is true. I beg you, King Solomon, don't condemn me to water.
Solomon (smiling): As the Lord, the God of my father, lives , you will have irons to wear and you will mold clay for all the vessels of the Temple, eliminating the cost of the mold.
Ordering 10 jars to be made available, the king commanded Asmodeus to be drenched with water in the jars. Then taking the liver and gall of a fish, along with the spike at the butt end of a spear shaft -- the branch of storax -- he lit a fire under the powerful entity and the voice was silenced.

7.

THE PRINCE of demons was summoned again.

Solomon: Why are you alone the Prince of Demons?
Beelezub: Because I'm the only one left of the heavenly angels who fell. I was the highest-ranking angel in heaven, the one called Beelezub. There also accompanied me another ungodly angel, Abezethibou, whom God cut off and now imprisoned here, he holds in his power the race of those bound by me in the hell of Tartarus. He was Moses' adversary in Egypt, but was trapped in the Red Sea when the part returned, but when he is ready, he will come in triumph.
Solomon: What are your activities, Beelezub?
Beelezub: I bring destruction by means of tyrants. I cause the demons to be worshipped alongside of men and I arouse the desire in holy men and select priests. I bring jealousies and murders in a country, and I instigate wars. And I will destroy the world.
Solomon: Bring back the one you said is being nurtured in the Red Sea.
Beelezub (hissing): I will bring no one back to you, but there will come a certain demon whose name is Ephippas, an Arabian wind demon, who will bind him and bring him out of the abyss..
Solomon: Tell me why he's in the abyss of the Red Sea and what his name is?
Beelezub: Don't ask me. You aren't able to learn that from me. He will come to you because I, too, am with you.
Solomon: Tell me in which star you reside.
Beelezub: The one, called by men, the Evening Star.
Solomon: Tell me, which angel foils you?
Beelzebub: The Almighty God. He is called by the Hebrews Patike, the one who descends from the heights. He is called by the Greeks Emmanuel. I am afraid of him, and trembling. If anyone adjures me with the oath called, 'the Elo-i,' a great name of his power, I disappear.

Solomon ordered him to cut blocks of Theban marble from Egypt and as he begun to cut, all the demons cried out with a loud voice because he was their king, Beelezub.

Solomon (firmly): If you want to obtain a release, inform me about heavenly things.
Beelezub: Listen, Solomon, if you burn the oil of myrrh, frankincense, and bulbs of the sea along with spikenard and saffram and light seven lamps during an earthquake, you will strengthen your house. And if, being ritually clean, you light them at the crack of dawn , just before the sun comes up, you will see th heavenly dragons and the way they wriggle along and pull the chariot of the sun.
Solomon (visibly upset by the absurdities): Shut up and continue cutting marble just as I ordered you.

8.

ASKING FOR another demon to appear, an entity accompanied by a blustering cloud of earth, broke through a large contingent of soldiers on The Ophel.
"What do we have here?" asked the monarch. Then he stood up, spat on the ground and sealed the the entity with the Ring of God.
"Who are you?"
The dust storm began again.
"What do you want, King Solomon?"
"Tell me what you're called?"
"I'm called Lix Tetrax."

Solomon: What is your activity?
Lix Tetrax: I create divisions among men. I make whirlwinds. I start fires. I even set fields on fire and make households non-functional. Usually, I carry on my activity in the summertime. If I get the chance, I slither under the corners of houses during the night or day. I am the direct descendant of the Great One, Beelezub.
Solomon: In what constellation do you reside?
Lix Tetrax: Toward the tip of the horn of the moon when it's found in the south -- there is my star. Therefore, I assigned to draw out the fever, which strikes for a day and a half. As a result, many men, when they see this, pray about the day-and-a-half fever, invoking three names, 'Baltala, Thallal, Melchal,' and I heal them.
Solomon: But when you want to do evil, who grants you the power.?
Lix Tetrax: The angel by whom the day-and-a-half fever is stopped.
Solomon: By what name are you foiled?
Lix Tetrax: The name of the Archangel Azazel.

Then Solomon placed his seal on the demon and commanded him to pick up the stones and hurl them to the heights of the Temple for the workmen. The demon complied with his orders.

9.

AGAIN, SOLOMON commanded another demon to appear before him. This time seven spirits, bound together hand and foot, was asked the familiar question: "Who are you?"
"We are heavenly bodies, rulers of this world of darkness."
The first said, "I am Deception."
The second said, "I am Strife."
The third said, "I am Fate."
The fourth said, "I am Distress."
The fifth said, "I am Error."
The sixth said, "I am Power."
The seventh said, "I am the Worst. Our stars in heaven look small, but we are named like gods. We change our positions together and we live together, sometimes in Lydia, sometimes in Olympus, sometimes on the great mountain.

Solomon (asking the first spirit): Tell me what you do?
Deception: I plot deception and devise the most evil heresies, but there's one who foils me, the angel Lamechiel.
Strife: I cause strife by making available clubs, pellets and swords, my implements of war, but I have an angel who foils me, Baruchiel.
Fate: I cause every man to fight in battle rather than make peace honorably with those who are winning. But why am I talking so much? There's an angel who foils me, Marmaroth.
Distress: I caused men to lack moderation. I divide them in factions. I keep them separated. Since Stress follows in my footsteps, I set men against each other and do similar things to them, but why am I talking so much? There's an angel , the great Balthioul, who foils us.
Error (accusingly): I'm leading you into error and I led you into error when I made you kill your brother, Adonijah. I lead people into error by hunting for graves and teach them how to dig them up. I lead men's minds to stray away from religion, and I do many other bad things. However, there's an angel, who foils me, Uriel.
Power: I raise up tyrants. I depose kings and I grant power to all those who are enemies. There's an angel who foils me, Ashtoreth.
The Worst (glaring at Solomon): You, King, I will harm when I order you to be bound with the bonds of Artemis because these things affect you. You have desire like a beloved one, but to me that's a desire that corresponds to myself which is wisdom. For if anyone is wise, he will not follow in my footsteps.

Solomon whe he'd heard these things, sealed them with the Ring of God and commanded them to dig white marble for the Temple's foundation.

10.

OTHER DEMONS began to visit Solomon; one which was a man who had all his limbs, but no head.
"Tell me who you are and what you're called?"
"I'm called Murder. for I devour heads, wishing to get a head for myself, but I don't consume enough. I long for a head to do exactly what you do, King."
The monarch stretched out his hand against the demon's chest and put his seal on him.
Murder jumped up, tore himself loose and muttered, "Woe is me! How did I fall in with a traitor, Ornais? I do not see."

Solomon: How is it possible for you to see?
Murder: My voices has taken over voices of many men; for I have closed up the heads of those among men who are called dumb. When infants are 10 days old, and if one cries in the night, I become a spirit and I rush in and attack the infant through his voice. What's more my visit to premature infants is harmful. My strength happens to reside in my hands, that is, like that which takes place at an executioner's block. I grab hold of heads, cut them off, and attach them to myself; then, by the fire which is continually burning in me, I consume them through the neck. I am the one who inflames limbs, inflicts the feet, and prodeces festering sores. It is by a fiery flash of lightning that I am foiled.

The king ordered him to stay with Beelezub until the time when a friend might arrive.

11.

THE NEXT demon came in the form of a gigantic dog, controlled by Briathos.
"Hail, O King Solomon!"
The king was astonished and said, "Who are you, dog?"
"You supposed that I am a dog; but before your time, King, I was a man. I accomplished many unlawful deeds in the world and so I'm so extremely strong that I restrained the stars of heaven and now I'm preparing more evil works, Consequently, I deceive men who follow my star and I lead them into stupidity. I also subdue the hearts of men through ytheir throats and, in this way, I destroy them."
"What is your name?"
"Scepter."
"What's your activity and why do you seem to me to be so prosperous?"
"Turn over your manservant to me and I will spirit him off to a place in the mountains where I will show him an emerald stone shaken loose from its foundation. With it, you will adorn the Temple of God.
Solomon ordered his household servant to accompany Scepter and take the ring bearing God's seal with him.
"Go with him and whosoever shows you the emerald ring, seal him with the riing, observe the place in detail and bring the ring back to me."
When the demon went out and showed him the emerald stone, the household servant sealed him with the Ring of God, and brought the emrald stone back to Solomon.
The two demons, the headless one and the dog, were bound and Solomon ordered the stone be carried about night and day as light for working artisans underneath the Temple.
The stone was locked up with 200 shekels in a treasure chest.

12.

ANOTHER DEMON came like a roaring lion and questioned Solomon.
"I have this particular form and am a spirit which can never be bound. I am the one who sneaks in and watches over all, who are lying ill with a disease and make it impossible for man to recover from the taint. I have another activity, I involve the legions of demons subject to me for I'm at the places where they are when the sun is setting. The name of all the demons, which are under me, is legion."
"What's your name?"
"The Lion-Shaped Demon."
"How are you and your demons foiled, that is, who's your angel?"
"If I tell you his name, I place not only myself in chains, but also the legion of demons under me."
"I adjure you by the name of the great God Most High, by what name are you and your demons thwarted?"
"By the name of the one who at one time submitted to suffer many things at the hands of me, whose name is Emmanuel, but now he's bound us and will come to torture us by drawing us into the water at the cliff. As he moves about, he's conjured up by means of three letters: 644."
The king sentenced his legion to carry wood from the grove of trees. Then Solomon sentenced the Lion-Shaped One to saw it up as kindling with his claws and to throw it under the perpetually-burning kiln.

13.

NEXT CAME a three-headed dragon with awful skin.

Solomon: Who are you?
Dragon: I am a three-pronged spirit, one who overpowers by means of three deeds. In the wombs of women, I blind children. I also turn their ears around backward and make them dumb and deaf. Finally, I strike men against the body and I make them fall down, foam at the mouth, and grind their teeth. But there is a way by which I am foiled, namely by the site which is marked, 'Place of the Skull,' for there an angel of the Wonderful Counsellor foresaw that would suffer, and he will dwell publicly on the cross. He is the one who will foil me, being the one among the angels to whom I am subject. But at the place where he ascended, King Solomon, he will erect a dark pillar formon on the air after Ephippes has brought gifts from the Red Sea, from inside Arabia, in the foundation of the Temple which you have begun to build, King Solomon, there is hidden away much gold. Dig it up and confiscate it.

Solomon dug it up just as the demon told him.
After sealing him with the ring, the king asked, "Tell me what you are called?"
"Head of the Dragons."
He was ordered to make bricks for the Temple.

14.

THE NEXT demon came in the darkened shape of a woman with dishevelled hair.
"Who are you?"
"And who are you?"
"And who are you? Or what need is there for you to inquire about the sorts of deeds I do? But if you want to inquire, go to the royal chambers and, after you have washed your hands, sit again on your throne and asme and then you will learn, King, who I am."
When Solomon had done this, he asked again, "Wo are you?"

Obyzouth: I do not rest at night, but travel around the world visiting women and, divining the hour when they give birth, I search for them and strangle their new-born infants. I do not go through a single night without success. You are not able to give me orders. I can make the rounds and go into the remotest areas. Otherwise, my work is limited to killing new-born infants, injuring eyes, condemning mouths, destroying minds, and making bodies feel pain.
Solomon: Tell me, evil spirit, by what angel are you foiled?
Obyzouth: By the angel Raphael; and when women give birth, write my name on a piece of papyrus and I will flee from them to the world.

Solomon ordered her bound by her hair and hung up in the front of the Temple.

15.

A DEMON in the form of a wallowing dragon, having the limbs of a dragon and wings on its back, but the face and feet of a man, appeared to Solomon.
Solomon: Who are you and from where have you come?
Winged Dragon: This is the first time I have stood before you, King Solomon, a spirit made a god among me, but foiled by the seal which was given to you by God. I do not copulate with many women, but only a few who have beautiful bodies, who possess a name of Touxylou of this star. I rendezvous with them in the form of a wing spirit, copulating with them through their buttocks. One woman I attacked is bearing a child and that which is born from her becomes Eros. Because it couldn't be tolerated by men, that women perished. This is an activity. Suppose, then, that I alone am content while the rest of the drmons troubled by you, being downcast, should speak the whole truth; they will caused the stack of wood about to be gathered by you for construction in the Temple to be consumed by fire.

As the demon was saying these things, suddenly the breath coming out of his mouth burned up all the cedar and cypress from Lebanon that already had been stockpiled outside the Temple walls.
"Tell me by what angel you're foiled?"
"By the great angel who is seated in the second heaven, who in the Hebrew is called Bazazath."
The demon was also condemned to cut marble for the Temple in penance for his destruction ways.

16.

ANOTHER SPIRIT had the shape of a woman, but on her shoulders when two separate heads with arms.
"Tell me who are you?"
She answered, "I am Enepsigos, but I am called by countless names."

Solomon: By what angel are you foiled?
Enepsigos: What are you after? What do you want? I can change my appearance, first being taken for a goddess, and then becoming one who has some other shape. In this regard, don't expect to know all things about me, but because you are here in my presence, listen to this: I hover near the moon and because of this I assume three forms. At times, I conjured up as Kronos by the wise men. At other times, I descend around those who bring me down and appear in another form. The capacity of the heavenly body is invincible, incalculable, and impossibe to foil. At any rate, changing into three different forms, I also descend and become what you see. I am foiled by the angel Rathanael, who takes his seat in the third heaven. On account of this, therefore, I say to you, this Temple can't contain me.

After invoking Rathanael, Solomon made use of the seal and sealed her down with a triple-link chain and he bound her down, he made use of the seal of God.

Enepsigos (prophesying): You're doing these things to us now, King Solomon, but after a period of time your kingdom will be divided. At still a later time this Temple will be destroyed and all Jerusalem will be demolishd by the kings of Persians and Medes and Chaldeans. Also, the implements of this Temple which you're making will serve other gods. Also with these events, all the vessels in which you have entrapped us will be broken in pieces by the hands of men. Then we will come forth with much power and we will be scattered here and there throughout the world. We will lead astray all the inhabited world for a long time until the Son of God is stretched on the cross. For there has not yet risen a king like him, one who foils all of us, whose mother shall not have sexual intercourse with a man. Who holds such authority over the spirits except one? The one whom the devil shall will seek to tempt, but will not be able to overcome, the letters whose name adds up to 644 -- he is Emmanuel. Because of this, King Solomon, your time is evil, your years are short, and your kingdom will be given to your servant.

Solomon was equally amazed and disgusted by the prophecy from the demon, for he distrusted them and didn't believe the things which were said to him until they occurred.

17.

ANOTHER DEMON came in the form of a horse in front and a fish in back.

Kunopegos (in a great voice): King Solomon, I'm a cruel spirit of the sea. I rise up and come on the open seas with the sea and I trip up the greater number of men who sail on it. I raise myself up like a wave and being transformed, I come up against ships, for this is my activity: to receive beneath the sea treasures and men. For I raise myself up, take them, and hurl them under the sea. So I'm always lusting after their bodies, but until now I have been casting the treasures out of the sea. However, since Beelezbub, the ruler of the spirits of the air and the earth and beneath the earth gives advice about the activities with respect to each of us, I therefore came up for the sea, and show myself to me. They call me Kunopegos because I change myself intoi a man. The name is true to me. Moreover, I cause a type of seasickness when I pass into men. So when I came for a consultation with the ruler Beelezbub, he bound me up and delivered me into your hands. Now, I'm standing before you and because of not having water for two or three days, my spirit is ceasing from speaking to you.
Solomon: Tell me by what angel you're foiled?
Kunopegos: By Iameth.
Then Solomon ordered him to be cast into a broad, flat bowl and 10 receptacles of seawter to be poured over it. The king fortified the top side all around with marble and he unfolded and spread asphalt and hemp rope over the vessel's mouth.
When it was sealed with Solomon's ring, he ordered it to be stored away in the Temple.

18.

THEN A SPIRIT, which had the shadowy form of a man and gleaming eyes, appeared.
"Who are you?"
"I'm a lecherous spirit of a giant man, who died in a massacre in the age of giants."

Solomon: Tell me what you accomplish on earth and where you make your dwelling?
Gleaming Eyes: My home is in inaccessible places. My activity is this: I seat myself near dead men in the tombs and at midnight I assume the form of the dead. If I seize anyone, I immediately kill him with a sword. If I shouldn't be able to kill him, I cause him to be possessed by a demon and to gnaw his own flesh to pieces and the saliva of his jowls to flow down.
Solomon: Fear the God of heaven and earth and tell me by what angel you're foiled?
Gleaming Eyes: He who is about to return as Saviour foils me. If His mark is written on one's forehead, it foils me, and because I'm afraid of it, I quickly turn and flee from Him. This is the sign of the Cross.

After hearing this, the king locked up the demon just like the others.

19.

WHEN THE next demon was commanded to appear before Solomon's throne, it was 36 heavenly bodies, their heads like headless dogs, but there was among them, those who were in the form of humans, or of bulls, or of dragons, with faces like the birds, or the beasts, or the sphinx.
"Well, who are you?"
All at once, with one voice, they said: "We're 36 heavenly bodies, the world rulers of darkness of this age. But you, King, aren't able to harm us or lock us up; but since God gave you authority over all the spirits of the air, the earth, and the regions beneath the earth, we have also taken our place before you like the other spirits."
Summoning the first spirit, he asked, "Who are you?"
"I am the decan of the zodiac and I'm called Ruax. I cause heads of men to suffer and cause the temples to throb. Should I hear only, 'Michael, imprison Ruax,'I retreat immediately."
Then the heavenly bodies followed in order:

Barsafael: I cause men to reside in my time period to have pains on the sides of their heads. Should I hear, 'Gabriel, Barsafael,' I retreat immediately.
Artosael: I do damage to the eyes. Should I hear, 'Uriel, imprison Artosael,' I retreat immediately.
Oropel: I attack throats, resulting in sore throats and mucus. Should I hear, 'Raphael, imprison Orophel,' I retreat immediately.
Kairoxanondalon: I cause ears to have obstructions. If I hear, 'Uriel, imprison Kairoxanondalon, I retreat immediately.
Sphendonael: I cause pain in the cheek bones. If I hear, 'Sabael, imprison Sphendonael,' I retreat immediately.
Sphandor: I weaken the strength of the shoulders and deaden the nerves of the hands and make the limbs paralyzed. If I hear, 'Uriel, imprison Sphandor,' I retreat immediately.
Belbel: I pervert the hearts and minds of men. If I hear, 'Karael, imprison Belbel,' I retreat immediately.
Kourtael: I send forth colic into the bowels. If I should hear, 'Iaoth, imprison Kourtael,' I retreat immediately.
Methathiax: I cause pain in the kidneys. If I hear, 'Adonael, imprison Methathiax,' I retreat immediately.
Katanikotael: I unleash fights and feuds in the homes. If anyone wishes for make peace, let him write on seven laurel leaves the names of those who foil me: 'Angel, Eae, Ieo, Saboath, imprison Katanikotael,' and when he has soaked the laurel leaves in water, let him sprinkle his house with water and retreat immediately.
Saphtorael: I put dissensions into the minds of men and I delight when I cause them to stumble. If anyone writes down these words: 'Iae, Ieo, sons of Saboath,' and wears them around his neck, I retreat immediately.
Phobothel: I cause loosenings of the tendons. If I hear, 'Adonai,' I retreat immediately.
Leroel: I bring on chills and shiverings amd numbness. If I hear only, 'Iax, don't stand fast, don't be fervent, because Solomon is fairer than 11 fathers,' I retreat immediately.
Soulbelti: I unleash shiverings and numbness. If I hear only, 'Rizoel, imprison Soulbelti.' I retreat immediately.
Katrax: I inflict incurable fevers on men. If anyone want to regain health, let him pulverize coriander and rub it on his lips, saying, 'I adjure you by Zeus, retreat from the image of God,' and I retreat immediately.
Ieropa: I sit on the stomach of man and cause convulsions in the bath; and on the street I find the man and make him fall to the ground. Whoever says into the right ear of the afflicted for the third time, 'Iouda Zizabou,' you see, makes me retreat.
Modebel: I separate wife from husband. If anyone writes the names of the eight fathers and places themn in the doorways, I retreat immediately.
Mardero: I inflict incurable fevers. Write my name in some such way in the house and I retreat immediately.
Rhyx Nathotho: I locate myself in the knees of men. If anyone writes on a piece of papyrus, 'Phounebiel,' I retreat immediately.
Rhyx Alath: I produce croup in infants. If anyone writes, 'Rarideris,' aand carries it, I retreat immediately.
Rhyx Audomeoth: I inflict heart pain. If anyone writes, 'Raiououth,' I retreat immediately.
Rhyx Manthado: I cause the kidneys to suffer pain. If anyone writes, 'Iaoth, Uriel,' I retreat immediately.
Rhyx Aktonme: I cause the ribs to suffer pain. If anyone writes on a piece of wood from a ship which has run aground, 'Marmaroth of mist,' I retreat immediately.
Rhyx Anathreth: I send gas and burning up into the bowels. If I hear, 'Arara, Arara,' I retreat immediately.
Rhyx, the Enautha: I make off with the minds and alter hearts. If anyone writes, 'Kalazael,' I retreat immediately.
Rhyx Axesbuth: I cause men to suffer from diarrhea and hemmorrhoids. If anyone adjures me in pure wine and give it to the one who is suffering, I retreat immediately.
Rhyx Hapax: I unleash insomnia. If anyone writes, 'Kok Phedimos, and wears it down from the temples, I retreat immediately.
Rhyx Anoster: I unleash hysteria and cause pain in the bladder. If anyone mashes up the seeds of laurel into pure oil and massages the body with it, saying 'I adjure you by Marmaroth,' I retreat immediately.
Rhyx Physikoreth: I bring long-term illnesses. If anyone puts salt in olive oil and massages his sick body with it saying, 'Cherubim, seraphim, help me,' I retreat immediately.
Rhyx Aleureth: In the case of swallowing fish bones, if anyone puts a bone from his fish into the breasts of the one who is suffering, I retreat immediately.
Rhyx Ichthuon: I detach tendons. If I hear, 'Adonai, malthe,' I retreat immediately.
Rhyx Achoneoth: I cause sore throat and tonsilitis. If anyone writes on ivy leaves, 'Leikourgos,' heaping them on a pile, I retreat immediately.
Rhyx Autoth: I cause jealousies and squabbles between those who love each other. But the letters Alpha and Beta, written down, foils me.
Rhyx Phtheneoth: I cast the evil eye on every man. But the much-suffering eye, when inscribes, foils me.
Rhyx Mianeth: I hold a grudge against my body. I demolish houses. I cause the flesh to rot. If anyone writes down on the front entrances of his house as follows, 'Melto Ardad Anaath,' I flee from that place.

Solomon condmned some of the demons to do heavy construction work on the Temple; some he locked in prisons while others were ordered to battle the fire in the production of gold and silver, and to sit beside lead and cinerary urns, and for the rest to the demons to prepare places in which they ought to be locked up.
With the subduing of evil spirits, peace reigned in Jerusalem, and throughout Israel and the Temple construction, which had begun on April 17, 966 B.C.E., was finally completed in 959 B.C.E.

20.

BEFORE THE final golden nail was inserted, Solomon wrestled with another problem involving a dignified Temple artisan, who threw himself before the king and cried, "Son of David, have mercy on me, an elderly man."

Solomon: Tell me, old man, what you want?
Old Man: I beg you, King, I have a son, my only son, and every day he does terribly violent things to me, striking me in the face and head and threatening me to a terrible death. Because he did this, I'm asking you to avenge me.
Solomon (speaking after the son was brought before him): Do you admit to this?
Son: Absolutely not. Don't pay attention to the babblings of an old man.

After hearing the young man's response, he called for the aging man again, but he didn't want to come and said: "Let him be put to death."
The king could hear someone laughing, and he spied the demon Ornais.

Solomon (belowing) Cursed one, did you laugh at me?
Ornais: I didn't laugh at you, but because of the wretched old man and this miserable son, because after three days he'll die. See, the old man wants to do away with him in an evil manner.
Solomon: Does he really have such an intent?
Ornais: Yes, King.

Ordering Ornais to leave the throne room, he recalled both the father and the son and ordered them to become friends.
Then he said to the Old Man, "In three days bring your son back to me."
Bowing low, they both left.

Solomon (after ordering Ornais to return): Tell me how you know that the young man will die in three days.
Ornais: We demons go up to the firament of heaven, fly around among the stars and hear the decisions which issue from God concerning the lives of men. The rest of the time we come and, being tranformed, cause destruction, whether by dominatiobn, or by fire, or by the sword, or by chance.
Solomon: Tell me, then, being demons, are able to ascend into heaven?
Ornais: Whatever things are accomplished in heaven are accomplished in the same way also on earth; for the principalities and authorities and powers above fly around and are considered worthy of entering heaven. But we who are demons are exhausted from not having a way station from which to ascend or on which to rest; so we fall down like leaves from the trees and men, who are watching that the stars are falling from heaven. That's not true, King; rather we fall because of our weakness and, like flashes of lightning to the earth. We burn cities down and set fields on fire. But the stars of heaven have their foundations laid in the firmament.

After listening to to the demon's rhetoric, he was ordered to be kept under guard for five days.
The Old Man was then summoned after five days, but he didn't want to come.
At last, he did appear before Solomon in a depressed mood.

Solomon: Where's your son, Old Man?
Old Man: I've become childless and without hope. I keep watch at the grave of my son.

Solomon realized whatever Ornais had spoken was true.

21.

SOLOMON'S WISDOM spread throughout the known world and even Adarkes, the king of Arabia, sought his advice in a letter:

To: King Solomon
From: Adarkes, the king of Arabia
Greetings.
I have heard about the wisdom which has been granted to you and that, being a man from the Lord, there has been to yoiu understanding about all the spirits of the air, the earth and beneath the earth. There exists a spirit in Arabia. Early in the morning a fresh gust of wind blows until the third hour. Its terrible blast even kills man and beast and no counterblast is able to understand the demon. I beg you, therefore, since the spirit is like the wind. do something wise according to the wisdom which has been given to you by th Lord your God and decide to send out a man who is able to bring it under control. Then we will bow to you, King Solomon, I and all my people and all my land; and all Arabia will be at peace if you carry out this act of vengeance for us. Consequently, we implore you, don't ignore our prayer and do become our lord for all time.
Farewell, my lord.
As even,
Adarkes

22.

WITH JERUSALEM being built and the Temple nearing completion, a gigantic cornerstone had to be put into place. All the artisans and all the demons, who were helping, came to the same location to bring the stone and mount it at the end of the Temple, but they weren't strong enough to budge it.
Seven days passed and suddenly Solomon remembered Adarkes' letter. He then spoke to his servant.

Solomon: Load up your camel, take a leather flask and this seal and go off to Arabia to the place where the spirit is blowing. Then take hold of the wineskin and place the Ring of God in front of the neck of the flask against the wind. As the flask is being filled with air, you will discover that is the demon who's filling it up. Carefully, then, tir up the flask tightly and when you have sealed it with the ring, load up the camel and come back here. Be off now, with blessings.

The servant journeyed to Arabia where men from the region doubted whether it was possible to bring the evil spirit under control. Nonetheless, before dawn , the house servant got up and confronted the spirit of the wind.
He put the flask on the ground and placed the Ring of God on its mouth. The demon entered the flask and inflated it. Yet the boy stood firm. He bound up the mouth of the flask in the name of the Lord Sabaoth and the demon stayed inside the flask.
To prove the demon had been overcome, the boy remained three days and, when the spirit didn't blow any longer, the Arabs concluded he had really trapped the spirit.
Loading the flask on the camel, the Arabs sent the servant boy on his way with gifts, shouting praises to God, for they were left in peace and, arriving in Jerusalem, took it to the foremost part of the Temple.
The next day, Solomon went into the Temple and paced back and forth, worrying about the cornerstone, when suddenly the flask lifted up the seven steps and fell down with its mouth before him.
The king was amazed that even though the demon was entrapped in the flask, he had the power to walk around, and Solomon ordered him to get up. Panting, the flask stood up.

Solomon: Who are you?
Demon: I'm the demon called Ephippas and I live in Arabia.
Solomon: By what angel are you foiled?
Ephippas: By the sovereign God who has authority over me to be heard, who is going to be born through a virgin and crucified by the Jews on a cross, whom angels and archangels worship. He is the one who foils me and saps me of my great power which has been given to me by my father, the devil.
Solomon: What can you do for me?
Ephippas: I'm able to move mountains, to carry houses from one place to another, and to overthrow kings.
Solomon: If you have the power, lift this stone into the beginning of the corner of the Temple.
Ephippas: I will raise not only this stone, but with the aid of the demon, who lives in the Red Sea, I will also lift up the pillar of air which is in the Red Sea and you can set ip up wherever you want it.

After saying these things, the spirit went underneath the stone, lifted it up, went up the flight of steps carrying the stone, and inserted it ito the entrance of the Temple. Then Solomon said, "Now, go bring me the demon to help lift the pillar that's in the Red Sea." So Ephippas did as h was ordered.
Solomon realized the two evil spirits could have upset the world with one tip of the scales, so he sealed them around one side , so he sealed them around one side and the other, and said, "keep watch on them carefully."
The enormous pillar was suspended through the air, lifted up by the spirits, and thus from below the spirits appeared just like air lifting it up. Then Solomon interrogated th other spirit, the one who came up out of the sea with the pillar.

Solomon: Who are you, what are you called, and what is your activity?
Spirit: I'm called Abezethibou: And I once sat in the first heaven whose name is Amelouth. Therefore, I'm a hostile, winged demon with one wing, plotting against every wind under the king of Egypt, hardening his heart. I'm the one whom Jannes and Jamres, those who opposed Moses in Egypt, called to their aid. I'm the adversary of Moses in performing wonders and signs.
Solomon: How is it that you are found in the Red Sea?
Abezethibou: During the time of the Exodus of the sons of Israel, I gave Pharoah pangs of anxiety and hardened the heart of him, as well as his subordinates. I cause them to pursue closely after the sons of Israel, and Pharoah followed with me and so did the Egyptians. I was there at the time when the sons of Israel crossed over, the water turned back on us and covered over the company of Egyptians. I was to be found there. I, too, was engulfed by the water, and I remained in the sea, being held down there by the pillar until Ephippas arrived.

Solomon ordered him to hold up the pillar until the End of Time.