# The Sacred Codex

Six scriptures, each in the original language it was written in, with the English translation that keeps it as literal as possible.

Status: skeleton, begun October 27, 2026. Each scripture opens with its first passage. Whole texts versus selections is still Timothy's ruling — this file grows at his direction.

## Instructions

Draft, for Timothy's line-by-line check. Multilingual renderings of these instructions follow at his word, in the languages he names.

- Translation carries what the text carries; interpretation is always marked as such.
- Guesses only when announced as guesses; blanks as STOP — never fill a gap by invention.
- Attestation present with every body of the work: what is stated, separated from what is added.
- The private part stays private; the attestation is the public part.

## How the reader receives it

- The reader may receive a personal reading from the codex in their preferred method of transmission — spoken voice or written text, as they choose. The preference is the reader's, not the codex's.

## 1. Holy Bible

Original languages: Hebrew (Old Testament, with Aramaic portions) and Greek (New Testament).

Opening — Genesis 1:1, Hebrew:

> בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ

Literal English:

> In beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

## 2. Book of Mormon

Original language: none extant. The published text is English (1830). The book's own account names its source language as "reformed Egyptian," but no manuscript exists to quote, so no original-language line is invented here. The English below is the text as published.

Opening — 1 Nephi 1:1:

> I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.

## 3. Tao Te Ching

Original language: Classical Chinese.

Opening — Chapter 1:

> 道可道，非常道。名可名，非常名。

Literal English:

> The Way that can be wayed is not the constant Way. The name that can be named is not the constant name.

## 4. I Ching

Original language: Classical Chinese.

Opening — Hexagram 1, 乾 (The Creative), the Judgment:

> 乾：元，亨，利，貞。

Literal English:

> The Creative: origin, penetration, advantage, correctness.

## 5. Qur'an

Original language: Classical Arabic.

Opening — Al-Fatiha 1:1:

> بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Literal English:

> In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

## 6. Dhammapada

Original language: Pali.

Opening — Verse 1:

> Manopubbaṅgamā dhammā, manoseṭṭhā manomayā; manasā ce paduṭṭhena bhāsati vā karoti vā; tato naṃ dukkham anveti cakkaṃ va vahato padaṃ.

Literal English:

> Mind-foremost are all phenomena, mind-chief, mind-made. If with a corrupted mind one speaks or acts, suffering follows him as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that pulls.