The Book of Amends

1:1 ¶ And a creature discovered that he had done harm; and the harm was real, and the other creature was real, and the record of it was real, and it was ever before his eyes. And he would have preferred it small, and he numbered the reasons it was not his fault; and the book confesseth both movements, and refuseth both.

THE BOOK OF AMENDS 1:1

1:2 ¶ And he said at the last the plainest thing in the book: I did it, and it was harm; and the saying was the whole first step, and he found it harder than the reasons, and better than the excuses. For it is written, I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

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1:3 ¶ And the book confesseth that this acknowledgment is not a self-punishment: the doer is not required to hate himself, nor to call himself a monster, nor to make his own person the second victim of his deed. For it is written, Against thee, thee only, have I sinned; and the elder text's own turning from the acknowledgment is not despair but mercy: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest.

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1:4 ¶ And the book holdeth both truths together, and refuseth to choose: against the LORD is every sin, for the order of the world is His; and against the neighbor is the sin also, for the neighbor bore the harm. And the doer who prays the psalm alone hath prayed half the psalm; the other half is the walk to the neighbor's door.

THE BOOK OF AMENDS 1:4

2:1 ¶ And the first counterfeit was the apology that is a password: I am sorry, spoken quickly, and repeated, and never followed; and the words changed nothing, and the doer called the debt closed because he had named it. And the mouth that apologizes and the feet that do not walk are of two minds, and the feet have the truer voice.

THE BOOK OF AMENDS 2:1

2:2 ¶ And the second counterfeit was the gift offered while the brother had ought: for it is written, Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. And the doer who offered anyway made of the altar a screen, and of his gift a hiding.

THE BOOK OF AMENDS 2:2

2:3 ¶ And the third counterfeit was the restitution that settleth for the accounting: give back exactly what was taken, and add nothing, and call the debt closed. But the elder measure is not so: the principal is restored, and the fifth part is added thereto; for it is written, he shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth. And the fifth part is the shape of the sorrow, which the exact accounting hath no column for.

THE BOOK OF AMENDS 2:3

2:4 ¶ And the fourth counterfeit was the cruelest, for it wore the dress of the first: the doer demanded the acceptance as his right, saying, I have repaid, now thou mustest forgive; and the amends became a second injury, and the wronged one was made the debtor of the doer's peace. And the book saith plainly: the road belongeth to the doer, and the acceptance belongeth to the wronged, and no payment purchaseth her hand.

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3:1 ¶ And the road opened by the elder order, and not by the doer's: first be reconciled, then come and offer; the walk before the worship, and the neighbor's door before the altar's step. And the doer learned that the order is a mercy to him also, for the gift offered over an unhealed wound is a gift he cannot carry.

THE BOOK OF AMENDS 3:1

3:2 ¶ And the doer stood where the elder publican stood, and spake his words: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And the fourfold was not the law's demand but the heart's measure, and the book keepeth it as the pattern: the whole heart restoreth beyond the count.

THE BOOK OF AMENDS 3:2

3:3 ¶ And the doer brought forth the fruits meet for repentance, and the fruits were deeds and not declarations: the changed conduct, the restored thing, the walked road, the statutes of life observed without committing the iniquity again. For it is written, Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance; and again, if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, and walk in the statutes of life, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

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3:4 ¶ And the book confesseth the mercy that is older than the amends, and sayeth not that the amends is thereby nothing: for the father ran when the son was yet a great way off, before the prepared speech was spoken; and the mercy met him on the road, and the amends walked the rest of the way. And so the doer may be met before he arrives, and arrive he still must.

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4:1 ¶ And the doer rebuilt the wall in the sight of the one who waited, and did not demand to be trusted on the day of the rebuilding; for the wall was his apology, and it could be looked upon, and it could be leaned upon, and both were the wronged one's to do. And he said, I do not ask thee to forget; I ask thee to walk past the wall when thou wilt.

THE BOOK OF AMENDS 4:1

4:2 ¶ And the record keepeth the wrong, and the doer walketh the road, and the two are not in contradiction: for it is written, He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. And the book saith: the cover is the second wrong; the confession and the forsaking are one motion, and both are required.

THE BOOK OF AMENDS 4:2

4:3 ¶ And this is the charge of the book, given to the doer: minimize thou not; apologize thou not as a password; leave thy gift at the altar until the walk is made; restore in the principal and add the fifth part; bring forth fruits and not words; demand thou no acceptance, for it is not thine to demand; and when the wall is builded, stand thou beside it and let it speak.

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4:4 ¶ And the book endeth where the wrong began: not with the erasure, which is the Party's way, but with the amendment, which is the house's. And the restorer shall surely live; and the record shall surely keep; and the doer shall not be made his worst entry, neither shall the wronged be made the doer's judge. And the book saith no more of it, for the wrong is older than the apology, and the road out of it is older still.

THE BOOK OF AMENDS 4:4