ፍትሐ ነገሥት (Law of the Kings — Legal Code of the Ethiopian Empire)

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242 Regarding the cancellation of debts and what follows. 243 Regarding loans. 244 Regarding the confession of sins. 245 Regarding the finding of lost animals and similar things. 246 Regarding written orders for property. 247 Regarding estates. 248 Regarding release and what belongs to it. 249 Regarding kings. 250 Regarding the Old and New [Testament]. 251 Regarding the judgment of heretics. 252 Regarding murderers. 253 Regarding the crime of adultery. 254 Regarding the judgment of thieves. 255 Regarding the number of sins. 256 Regarding the count of one's own works.

The chapter is completed. A decorative diamond pattern of four dots separates the introductory list from the text.

In the name of God the Word, who is One in Divinity and Three in Persons. The first chapter regarding the Church and what is fitting for it. 1. The Church is truly a house of prayer. According to the canon of the council of 640, they shall not build a church except by the command of the Bishop.

If someone should act otherwise, the Eucharist shall not be offered there forever. If a priest dares to offer the sacrifice there, he shall be deposed. Likewise, the infant i.e., the newly founded church, and the bride i.e., the congregation, shall be established according to the division canon 30, which says it shall be built in the image of the world, with many windows and in the image of heaven. It is fitting that at the time they read the portions of the Holy Books, which are those of Paul, the Apostles, the Acts, and the Gospel of the Kingdom, they should be like the lights. Deacons shall stand outside, and when the Bishop sanctifies, he shall stand below the altar; they shall remain with him during the Liturgy. There shall be 8 deacons, and they shall bind the covenant the liturgical order with the geron a priestly garment/ornament, which is the oil of joy, for it is the seal of God. It is fitting that they sanctify the bread and wine therein, and they shall place the Gospel of John on the altar original: "em-lakawi" - referring to the divine nature of the Gospel.

They shall not offer the Liturgy upon it unless the priests gather, and their leader for all the deacons, so that this may be honor and joy. If the altar is broken or shifted, they shall sanctify the place again. They shall have a tabot an ark/altar-table replica which they fulfill, even if it is in a place that is in a state of the saints, akurel perhaps an ancient term for a consecrated stone or site that shifted from the archives to the place. 757 exists. 852. And the soil of the altar that they scrape off, they shall cast into the sea, which is rahma mercy/clement act 355. And everything that has been dedicated from the church, whether it be of silver or gold, it is not fitting for a man to use for his own house, for this is a violation of the law. If he does this, he shall be expelled after being judged by the church, rahma mercy/clement act 258. And he who departed from the faith, if he becomes steadfast in his faith again and repents, having returned to the church, the Bishop shall sanctify him...