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The Forgotten Books of Eden · 212 of 293

Odes of Solomon: Ode 20

A mixture of ethics and mysticism; of the golden rule and the tree of life.

1.I am a priest of the Lord, and to Him I do priestly service: and to Him I offer the sacrifice of His thought. 2 For His thought is not like the thought of the world nor the thought of the flesh, nor like them that serve carnally. 3 The sacrifice of the Lord is righteousness, and purity of heart and lips. 4 Present your reins before Him blamelessly: and let not thy heart do violence to heart, nor thy soul to soul. 5 Thou shalt not acquire a stranger by the price of thy silver, neither shalt thou seek to devour thy neighbour, 6 Neither shalt thou deprive him of the covering of his nakedness. 7 But put on the grace of the Lord without stint; and come into His Paradise and make thee a garland from its tree, 8 And put it on thy head and be glad; and recline on His rest, and glory shall go before thee, 9 And thou shalt receive of His kindness and of His grace; and thou shalt be flourishing in truth in the praise of His holiness. Praise and honour be to His name. Hallelujah.

Asked of Guide

Why does the speaker call offering 'the sacrifice of His thought' a priestly act?

The speaker means that aligning your mind with God’s intentions is an act of worship: offering “the sacrifice of His thought” is dedicating your inner life to the Lord rather than to worldly or fleshly aims. The poem treats right thinking as ethical action—“righteousness, and purity of heart and lips”—so thought becomes the medium of priestly service.

This verse connects inward discipline to outward life: keeping the “reins… blamelessly” and refusing to “devour thy neighbour” shows that correct thought produces just behavior and community care. The image of entering “His Paradise” and making a garland echoes the bride imagery in the Song of Solomon and the inner transformation described in the Odes themselves, where moral purity leads to participation in divine rest.

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