The Nazarene's words to him were simple: "Go and tell of God's compassion." And that is exactly what Simon of the Tombs determines to do. After all, no one knows better of God's compassion than he-the Nazarene has driven out a legion of demons that have tormented him for years. But although the message is simple, Simon's new life is not. The first person he meets is Tabitha, a widow who has turned to prostitution to save her farm. Eager to share with her his good news and to help her gain freedom from her own bondage, Simon offers to help her with repairs. But they find their lives threatened in a tangle with both the Roman authorities and the Zealots; and Simon is forced to flee. With nowhere else to go, a hardened and skeptical Tabitha follows him. More than they know, Simon's simple message, which to Tabitha seems so ineffective, and their wanderings, which to her seem so aimless, are laying a foundation, person by person, for a strange new "building."