the world. For when God created the world, He laid over the abyss
a shard, on which is engraved the Ineffable Name, that the abyss
may not burst forth and destroy the world. But as often as on
swears falsely in God's name, the letters of the Ineffable Name fly
away, and as there is then nothing to restrain the abyss, the waters
burst forth from it to destroy the world. This would surely come to
pass, if God did not sent the angel Ya'asriel, who has charge of the
seventy pencils, to engrave anew the Ineffable Name on the shard.
[219]

God said then to Israel, "If you accept My Torah and observe My
laws, I will give you for all eternity a thing most precious that I
have in My possession." "And what," replied Israel, "is that
precious thing which Thou wilt give us if we obey Thy Torah?"
God: "The future world." Israel: "But even in this world should we
have a foretaste of that other." God: "The Sabbath will give you
this foretaste. [220] Be mindful of the Sabbath on the seventh day
of the creation of the world." For when the world was created, the
seventh day came before God, and said to Him: "All that Thou has
created is in couples, why not I?" Whereupon God replied, "The
community of Israel shall be thy spouse." Of this promise that God
had made to the seventy day, He reminded the people on Mount
Sinai, when he gave them the fourth commandment, to keep the
Sabbath holy. [221]

When the nations of the earth heard the first commandment, they
said: "There is no king that does not like to see himself
acknowledged as sovereign, and just so does God desire His
people to pledge unto Him their allegiance." At the second
commandment they said: "No king suffers a king beside himself,