{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_618/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_618","id":"gutenberg_618","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/618","summary":null,"tags":["Bible -- History of Biblical events -- Poetry","Category: British Literature","Category: Classics of Literature","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Poetry","Category: Religion/Spirituality","English poetry -- Old English, ca. 450-1100"],"text":"Produced by Douglas B. Killings.  HTML version by Al Haines.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCodex Junius 11\n\n(Author unknown)\n\n\n\n\nThis file contains translations from the Anglo-Saxon of the\nfollowing works: \"Genesis A\", \"Genesis B\", \"Exodus\", \"Daniel\",\nand \"Christ and Satan\".  All are works found in the manuscript of\nAnglo-Saxon verse known as \"Junius 11.\"\n\nThese works were originally written in Anglo-Saxon, sometime\nbetween the 7th and 10th Centuries A.D.  Although sometimes\nascribed to the poet Caedmon (fl. late 7th Century), it is\ngenerally thought that these poems do not represent the work of\none single poet.\n\n\n\n\n\nBIBLIOGRAPHY:\n\nOther Translations--\n\nBradley, S.A.J.: \"Anglo-Saxon Poetry\" (Everyman Press, London,\n1982)\n\n\nCritical Editions--\n\nDoane, A.N. (ed.): \"Genesis A: A New Critical Edition\"\n(University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, 1978)\n\nDoane, A.N. (ed.): \"The Saxon Genesis: An Edition of the West\nSaxon Genesis B and the Old Saxon Vatican Genesis\" (University of\nWisconsin Press, Madison, 1991)\n\nDobbie, Elliot VanKirk (ed.): \"The Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records,\nvol. I--The Junius Manuscript\" (Columbia University Press, New\nYork, 1937)\n\nFarrell, R.T. (ed.): \"Daniel and Azarias\" (Methuen & Co. Ltd.,\nLondon, 1974)\n\nTolkein, J.R.R. (ed.): \"The Old English Exodus\" (Oxford\nUniversity Press, Oxford, 1981)\n\n\n\n\n\nGENESIS (Genesis A & B)\n\nNOTE: This work is generally believed to be a composite of two\nseparate poems, usually referred to as \"Genesis A\" (or \"The\nEarlier Genesis\") and \"Genesis B\" (or \"The Later Genesis\").\n\"Genesis A\" is the work at lines #1-234 and #852-2935; \"Genesis\nB\" is interpolated into \"Genesis A\" at lines #235-851.\n\nThe reason for this interpolation is not known.  Perhaps the\noriginal compiler preferred the version of the story presented in\n\"Genesis B\", or perhaps the text of \"Genesis A\" from which he was\nworking with was missing this section.  Adding to this confusion\nis evidence that \"Genesis B\" appears to be a translation from an\nearlier and separate Old Saxon retelling of the biblical \"Book of\nGenesis\", a fragment of which (corresponding to lines #791-817 of\n\"Genesis B\") survives.\n\n\"Genesis\", like the other poems of \"Codex Junius 11\", is not a\ndirect translation into Anglo-Saxon of the Old Testament \"Book of\nGenesis\".  Rather, it is an effort to retell the story in the\npoetry and style of the Germanic Epic, a style still popular with\nthe Anglo-Saxons at the time \"Junius 11\" was compiled.\n\n--DBK\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\nLIBER I\n\n  Genesis (I-IV)\n  Genesis B (IV-XIV)\n  Exodus (XLII-XLIX)\n  Daniel (L-LV)\n\nLIBER II\n\n  Christ and Satan (I-VII)\n  The Harrowing of Hell (VIII-XII)\n  The Temptation\n\n\n\n\nLIBER I\n\nI\n\n(ll. 1-28) Right is it that we praise the King of heaven, the\nLord of hosts, and love Him with all our hearts.  For He is great\nin power, the Source of all created things, the Lord Almighty.\nNever hath He known beginning, neither cometh an end of His\neternal glory.  Ever in majesty He reigneth over celestial\nthrones; in righteousness and strength He keepeth the courts of\nheaven which were established, broad and ample, by the might of\nGod, for angel dwellers, wardens of the soul.  The angel legions\nknew the blessedness of God, celestial joy and bliss.  Great was\ntheir glory!  The mighty spirits magnified their Prince and sang\nHis praise with gladness, serving the Lord of life, exceeding\nblessed in His splendour.  They knew no sin nor any evil; but\ndwelt in peace for ever with their Lord.  They wrought no deed in\nheaven save right and truth, until the angel prince in pride\nwalked in the ways of error.  Then no longer would they work\ntheir own advantage, but turned away from the love of God.  They\nboasted greatly, in their banded strength, that they could share\nwith God His glorious dwelling, spacious and heavenly bright.\n\n(ll. 28-46) Then sorrow came upon them, envy and insolence and\npride of the angel who first began that deed of folly, to plot\nand hatch it forth, and, thirsting for battle, boasted that in\nthe northern borders of heaven he would establish a throne and a\nkingdom.  Then was God angered and wrathful against that host\nwhich He had crowned before with radiance and glory.  For the\ntraitors, to reward their work, He shaped a house of pain and\ngrim affliction, and lamentations of hell.  Our Lord prepared\nthis torture-house of exiles, deep and joyless, for the coming of\nthe angel hosts. Well He knew it lay enshrouded in eternal night,\nand filled with woe, wrapped in fire and piercing cold,\nsmoke-veils and ruddy flame.  And over that wretched realm He\nspread the brooding terror of torment.  They had wrought grievous\nwrong together against God.  Grim the reward they gained!\n\n(ll. 47-77) Fierce of heart, they boasted they would take the\nkingdom, and easily.  But their hope failed them when the Lord,\nHigh King of heaven, lifted His hand against their host.  The\nerring spirits, in their sin, might not prevail against the Lord,\nbut God, the Mighty, in His wrath, smote their insolence and\nbroke their pride, bereft these impious souls of victory and\npower and dominion and glory; despoiled His foes of bliss and\npeace and joy and radiant grace, and mightily avenged His wrath\nupon them to their destruction.  His heart was hardened against\nthem; with heavy hand He crushed His foes, subdued them to His\nwill, and, in His wrath, drove out the rebels from their ancient\nhome and seats of glory.  Our Lord expelled and banished out of\nheaven the presumptuous angel host.  All-wielding God dismissed\nthe faithless horde, a hostile band of woeful spirits, upon a\nlong, long journey.  Crushed was their pride, their boasting\nhumbled, their power broken, their glory dimmed.  Thenceforth\nthose dusky spirits dwelt in exile.  No cause had they to laugh\naloud, but, racked with pangs of hell, they suffered pain and woe\nand tribulation, cloaked with darkness, knowing bitter anguish, a\ngrim requital, because they sought to strive with God.\n\n(ll. 78-81) Then was there calm as formerly in heaven, the kindly\nways of peace.  The Lord was dear to all, a Prince among His\nthanes, and glory was renewed of angel legions knowing blessedness\nwith God.\n\n\nII\n\n(ll. 82-91) The citizens of heaven, the home of glory, dwelt\nagain in concord.  Strife was at an end among the angels, discord\nand dissension, when those warring spirits, shorn of light, were\nhurled from heaven.  Behind them stretching wide their mansions\nlay, crowned with glory, prospering in grace in God's dominion, a\nsunny, fruitful land, empty of dwellers, when the accursed\nspirits reached their place of exile within Hell's prison-walls.\n\n(ll. 92-102) Then our Lord took counsel in the thoughts of His\nheart how He might people, with a better host, the great\ncreation, the native seats and gleaming mansions, high in heaven,\nwherefrom these boastful foes had got them forth.  Therefore with\nmighty power Holy God ordained, beneath the arching heavens, that\nearth and sky and the far-bounded sea should be established,\nearth-creatures in the stead of those rebellious foes whom He had\ncast from heaven.\n\n(ll. 103-119) As yet was nought save shadows of darkness; the\nspacious earth lay hidden, deep and dim, alien to God, unpeopled\nand unused.  Thereon the Steadfast King looked down and beheld\nit, a place empty of joy.  He saw dim chaos hanging in eternal\nnight, obscure beneath the heavens, desolate and dark, until this\nworld was fashioned by the word of the King of glory.  Here first\nwith mighty power the Everlasting Lord, the Helm of all created\nthings, Almighty King, made earth and heaven, raised up the sky\nand founded the spacious land.  The earth was not yet green with\ngrass; the dark waves of the sea flowed over it, and midnight\ndarkness was upon it, far and wide.\n\n(ll. 119-134) Then in radiant glory God's holy spirit moved upon\nthe waters with wondrous might.  The Lord of angels, Giver of\nlife, bade light shine forth upon the spacious earth.  Swiftly\nwas God's word fulfilled; holy light gleamed forth across the\nwaste at the Creator's bidding.  Over the seas the Lord of\nvictory divided light from darkness, shadow from radiant light.\nThe Lord of life gave both a name.  By the word of God the\ngleaming light was first called day.  And in the beginning of\ncreation was God well pleased.  The first day saw the dark and\nbrooding shadows vanish throughout the spacious earth.\n\n\nIII\n\n(ll. 135-143) The day departed, hasting over the dwellings of\nearth.  And after the gleaming light the Lord, our maker, thrust\non the first of evenings.  Murky gloom pressed hard upon the\nheels of day; God called it night.  Our Lord sundered them, one\nfrom the other; and ever since they follow out the will of God to\ndo it on the earth.\n\n(ll. 143-153) Then came a second day, light after darkness.  And\nthe Lord of life ordained a pleasant firmament amid the waters.\nOur Lord sundered the seas and established the heavens.  By His\nword the King, Almighty God, raised them above the earth.  The\nwaters were divided under the heavens by His holy might; the\nwaters were sundered from the waters, under the firmament.\n\n(ll. 154-168) Then came hasting over the earth the third fair\nmorning.  Not yet were the wide ways and spacious tracts useful\nunto God, but the land lay covered by the deep.  The Lord of\nangels, by His word, commanded that the waters come together,\nwhich now beneath the heavens hold their course and place\nordained.  Then suddenly, wide-stretching under heaven, lay the\nsea, as God gave bidding.  The great deep was sundered from the\nland.  The Warden of life, the Lord of hosts, beheld the dry\nground far outspread.  And the King of glory called it earth.\nFor the ocean-billows and the wide-flung sea He set a lawful path\nand lettered them....\n\n((LACUNA--two to three leaves missing))\n\n\nIV\n\n(ll. 169-191) ....It did not seem good to the Lord of heaven that\nAdam should longer be alone as warden and keeper of this new\nParadise.  Wherefore the King, Almighty God, wrought him an\nhelpmeet; the Author of life made woman and brought her unto the\nman whom He loved.  He took the stuff of Adam's body, and\nsecretly drew forth a rib from his side.  He was fast asleep in\npeaceful slumber; he knew no pain nor any pang; there came no\nblood from out the wound, but the Lord of angels drew forth from\nhis body a growing rib, and the man was unhurt.  Of this God\nfashioned a lovely maid, breathing into her life and an eternal\nsoul.  They were like unto the angels.  The bride of Adam was a\nliving spirit.  By God's might both were born into the world in\nthe loveliness of youth.  They knew no sin nor any evil, but in\nthe hearts of both there burned the love of God.\n\n(ll. 192-195) Then the Gracious King, Lord of all human kind,\nblessed these two, male and female, man and wife, and spake this\nword:\n\n(ll. 196-205) \"Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the green earth\nwith your seed and increase, sons and daughters.  And ye shall\nhave dominion over the salt sea, and over all the world.  Enjoy\nthe riches of earth, the fish of the sea, and the fowls of the\nair.  To you is given power over the herds which I have hallowed,\nand the wild beasts, and over all living things that move upon\nthe earth; all living things, which the depths bring forth\nthroughout the sea, shall be subject unto you.\"\n\n((LACUNA--One or more leaves missing))\n\n(ll. 206-234) And our Lord beheld the beauty of His works and the\nabundance of all fruits of this new creation: Paradise lay\npleasant and inviting, filled with goodly store and endless\nblessings.  Bountifully a running stream, a welling spring,\nwatered that pleasant land.  Not yet did clouds, dark with wind,\ncarry the rains across the spacious earth; nathless the land lay\ndecked with increase.  Out from this new Paradise four pleasant\nbrooks of water flowed.  All were divisions of one beauteous\nstream, sundered by the might of God when He made the earth, and\nsent into the world.  And one of these the mortal dwellers of\nearth called Pison, which compasseth the land of Havilah about\nwith shining waters.  And in that land, as books tell us, the\nsons of men from far and near find out the best of gold and\nprecious gems.  And the second floweth round about the land and\nborders of the Ethiopians, a spacious kingdom.  Its name is\nGihon.  The third is Tigris, whose abundant stream lieth about\nthe limits of Assyria.  Likewise also the fourth, which now\nthrough many a folk-land men call Euphrates....\n\n((LACUNA--At least one, possibly two, leaves missing))\n\n\n(Beginning of \"Genesis B\")\n\nV\n\n(ll. 235-236) \"...Eat freely of the fruit of every other tree.\nFrom that one tree refrain.  Beware of its fruit.  And ye shall\nknow no dearth of pleasant things.\"\n\n(ll. 237-245) Eagerly they bowed them down before the King of\nheaven, and gave Him thanks for all, for His teachings and\ncounsels.  And He gave them that land to dwell in.  Then the Holy\nLord, the Steadfast King, departed into heaven.  And the\ncreatures of His hand abode together on the earth.  They had no\nwhit of care to grieve them, but only to do the will of God for\never.  Dear were they unto God as long as they would keep His\nholy word.\n\n\nVI\n\n(ll. 246-260) The Holy Lord, All-wielding God, with mighty hand\nhad wrought ten angel-orders in whom He trusted well, that they\nwould do Him service, and work His will.  Therefore God gave them\nreason, with His own hands shaped them, and stablished them in\nbliss.  But one He made so great and strong of heart, He let him\nwield such power in heaven next unto God, so radiant-hued He\nwrought him, so fair his form in heaven which God had given, that\nhe was like unto the shining stars.  He should have sung his\nMaker's praise, and prized his bliss in heaven.  He should have\nthanked his Lord for the great boon He showered on him in the\nheavenly light, and let him long enjoy.  But he turned him to a\nworse thing, and strove to stir up strife against the Highest\nLord of heaven, who sitteth on the throne of glory.\n\n(ll. 261-276) Dear was he to our Lord.  Nor could it long be hid\nfrom God that pride was growing in His angel's heart.  He set\nhimself against his Leader, scoffed at God with boasting, and\nwould not serve Him.  He said his form was beautiful and bright,\ngleaming and fair of hue.  Nor could he find it in his heart to\nserve the Lord God, or be subject to Him.  It seemed to him that\nhe had greater strength and larger following than Holy God might\nhave.  Many words the angel spake in his presumption.  By his own\npower alone he thought to build a stronger throne and mightier in\nheaven.  He said his heart was urging him to toil, to build a\nstately palace in the north and west.  He said he doubted in his\nheart if he would still be subject unto God:\n\n(ll. 277-291) \"Why should I slave?\" quoth he. \"I need not serve a\nmaster.  My hands are strong to work full many a wonder.  Power\nenough have I to rear a goodlier throne, a higher in the heavens.\nWhy should I fawn for His favour, or yield Him such submission?\nI may be God as well as He!  Brave comrades stand about me;\nstout-hearted heroes who will not fail me in the fray.  These\nvaliant souls have chosen me their lord.  With such peers one may\nponder counsel, and gain a following.  Devoted are these friends\nand faithful-hearted; and I may be their lord and rule this\nrealm.  It seemeth no wise right to me that I should cringe a\nwhit to God for any good.  I will not serve Him longer.\"\n\n(ll. 292-298) Now when God had heard all this, how His angel was\nbeginning to make presumptuous head against his Leader, speaking\nrash words of insolence against his Lord, needs must he make\natonement for that deed, endure the woe of strife, and bear his\npunishment, most grievous of all deaths.  And so doth every man\nwho wickedly thinketh to strive with God, the Lord of might.\n\n(ll. 299-319) Then Almighty God, High Lord of heaven, was filled\nwith wrath, and hurled him from his lofty throne.  He had gained\nhis Master's hate, and lost His favour.  God's heart was hardened\nagainst him.  Wherefore he needs must sink into the pit of\ntorment because he strove against the Lord of heaven.  He\nbanished him from grace and cast him into hell, into the deep\nabyss where he became a devil.  The Fiend and all his followers\nfell from heaven; three nights and days the angels fell from\nheaven into hell.  God changed them all to devils.  Because they\nheeded not His deed and word, therefore Almighty God hurled them\ninto darkness, deep under earth, crushed them and set them in the\nmirk of hell.  There through the never-ending watches of the\nnight the fiends endure an unremitting fire.  Then at the dawn\ncometh an east wind, and bitter frost, ever a blast of fire or\nstorm of frost.  And each must have his share of suffering\nwrought for his punishment.  Their world was changed when God\nfilled full the pit of hell with His foes!\n\n(ll. 320-322) But the angels who kept their faith with God dwelt\nin the heights of heaven.\n\n\nVII\n\n(ll. 322-336) The other fiends who waged so fierce a war with God\nlay wrapped in flames.  They suffer torment, hot and surging\nflame in the midst of hell, broad-stretching blaze of fire and\nbitter smoke, darkness and gloom, because they broke allegiance\nunto God.  Their folly and the angel's pride deceived them.  They\nwould not heed the word of God.  Great was their punishment!\nThey fell, through folly and through pride, to fiery depths of\nflame in hell.  They sought another home devoid of light and\nfilled with fire--a mighty flaming death.  The fiends perceived\nthat through the might of God, because of their presumptuous\nhearts and boundless insolence, they had won a measureless woe.\n\n(ll. 337-355) Then spake their haughty king, who formerly was\nfairest of the angels, most radiant in heaven, beloved of his\nLeader and dear unto his Lord, until they turned to folly, and\nAlmighty God was moved to anger at their wantonness, and hurled\nhim down to depths of torment on that bed of death.  He named him\nwith a name, and said their leader should be called from\nthenceforth Satan.  He bade him rule the black abyss of hell in\nplace of striving against God.  Satan spake--who now must needs\nhave charge of hell and dwell in the abyss--in bitterness he\nspake who once had been God's angel, radiant-hued in heaven,\nuntil his pride and boundless arrogance betrayed him, so that he\nwould not do the bidding of the Lord of hosts.  Bitterness was\nwelling in his heart; and round him blazed his cruel torment.\nThese words he spake:\n\n(ll. 355-367) \"This narrow place is little like those other\nrealms we knew, on high in heaven, allotted by my Lord, though\nthe Almighty hath not granted us to hold our state, or rule our\nkingdom.  He hath done us wrong to hurl us to the fiery depths of\nhell, and strip us of our heavenly realm.  He hath ordained that\nhuman kind shall settle there.  That is my greatest grief that\nAdam--wrought of earth--should hold my firm-set throne and\nlive in joy, while we endure this bitter woe in hell.\n\n(ll. 368-388) \"Alas! could I but use my hands and have my\nfreedom for an hour, one winter hour, then with this host I would--  But\nbands of iron crush me down, the bondage of my chains is\nheavy.  I am stripped of my dominion.  Firmly are hell's fetters\nforged upon me.  Above me and below a blaze of fire!  Never have\nI seen a realm more fatal--flame unassuaged that surges over\nhell.  Ensnaring links and heavy shackles hold me.  My ways are\ntrammelled up; my feet are bound; my hands are fastened.  Closed\nare the doors of hell, the way cut off.  I may not escape out of\nmy bonds, but mighty gyves of tempered iron, hammered hot, press\nhard upon me.  God hath set His foot upon my neck.  So I know the\nLord of hosts hath read the purpose of my heart, and knew full\nwell that strife would grow between our host and Adam over the\nheavenly realm, had I the freedom of my hands.\n\n\nVIII\n\n(ll. 389-400) \"But now we suffer throes of hell, fire and\ndarkness, bottomless and grim.  God hath thrust us out into the\nblack mists.  He cannot charge upon us any sin or evil wrought\nagainst Him in His realm!  Yet hath He robbed us of the light and\ncast us into utter woe.  Nor may we take revenge, nor do Him any\nevil because He stripped us of the light.  He hath marked out the\nborders of the world, and there created man in His own image,\nwith whom He hopes again to people heaven, with pure souls.  We\nneeds must ponder earnestly to wreak this grudge on Adam, if we\nmay, and on his children, and thwart His will if so we may\ndevise.\n\n(ll. 401-407) \"No longer have I any hope of light wherein He\nthinketh long to joy, in bliss among His angel hosts; nor may we\never bring this thing to pass, that we should change the purpose\nof Almighty God.  Let us therefore turn the heavenly kingdom from\nthe sons of men, since we may not possess it, cause them to lose\nHis favour and turn aside from the command He laid upon them.\nThen shall His wrath be kindled, and He shall cast them out from\ngrace.  They shall seek out hell and its grim gulf, and in this\nheavy bondage we may have the sons of men to serve us.\n\n(ll. 408-424) \"Begin now and plan this enterprise.  If ever in\nolden days, when happily we dwelt in that good kingdom, and held\npossession of our thrones, I dealt out princely treasure to any\nthane, he could not make requital for my gifts at any better time\nthan now, if some one of my thanes would be my helper, escaping\noutward through these bolted gates, with strength to wing his way\non high where, new-created, Adam and Eve, surrounded with\nabundance, dwell on earth--and we are cast out hither in this\ndeep abyss.  They are now much dearer unto God, and own the high\nestate and rightful realm which we should have in heaven!  Good\nfortune is allotted to mankind.\n\n(ll. 425-437) \"My soul is sorrowful within me, my heart is sore,\nthat they should hold the heavenly realm for ever.  But if in any\nwise some one of you could bring them to forsake God's word and\nteaching, soon would they be less pleasing unto Him!  If they\nbreak His commandment, then will His wrath be kindled.  Their\nhigh estate shall vanish; their sin shall have requital, and some\ngrim penalty.  Take thought now how ye may ensnare them.  I shall\nrest softly in these chains if they lose heaven.  Whoso shall\nbring this thing to pass shall have reward for ever, of all that\nwe may win to our advantage, amid these flames.\n\n\nIX\n\n(ll. 438-441) I will let him sit next me, whoever shall return to\nhell proclaiming that they have set at naught, by word and deed,\nthe counsels of the King of heaven and been displeasing to the\nLord.\"\n\n((LACUNA--Section missing of indeterminate length.))\n\n\nXI\n\n(ll. 442-460) Then God's enemy began to make him ready, equipped\nin war-gear, with a wily heart.  He set his helm of darkness on\nhis head, bound it full hard, and fastened it with clasps.  Many\na crafty speech he knew, many a crooked word.  Upward he beat his\nway and darted through the doors of hell.  He had a ruthless\nheart.  Evil of purpose he circled in the air, cleaving the flame\nwith fiendish craft.  He would fain ensnare God's servants unto\nsin, seduce them and deceive them that they might be displeasing\nto the Lord.  With fiendish craft he took his way until he came\non Adam upon earth, the finished handiwork of God, full wisely\nwrought, and his wife beside him, loveliest of women, performing\nmany a goodly service since the Lord of men appointed them His\nministers.\n\n(ll. 460-477) And by them stood two trees laden with fruit and\nclothed with increase.  Almighty God, High King of heaven, had\nset them there that the mortal sons of men might choose of good\nand evil, weal and woe.  Unlike was their fruit!  Of the one tree\nthe fruit was pleasant, fair and winsome, excellent and sweet.\nThat was the tree of life.  He might live for ever in the world\nwho ate of that fruit, so that old age pressed not heavily upon\nhim, nor grievous sickness, but he might live his life in\nhappiness for ever, and have the favour of the King of heaven\nhere on earth.  And glory was ordained for him in heaven, when he\nwent hence.\n\n(ll. 478-495) The other tree was dark, sunless, and full of\nshadows: that was the tree of death.  Bitter the fruit it bore!\nAnd every man must know both good and evil; in this world abased\nhe needs must suffer, in sweat and sorrow, who tasted of the\nfruit that grew upon that tree.  Old age would rob him of his\nstrength and joy and honour, and death take hold upon him.  A\nlittle time might he enjoy this life, and then seek out the murky\nrealm of flame, and be subject unto fiends.  There of all perils\nare the worst for men for ever.  And that the evil one knew well,\nthe wily herald of the fiend who fought with God.  He took the\nform of a serpent, coiled round the tree of death by devil's\ncraft, and plucked the fruit, and turned aside again where he\nbeheld the handiwork of the King of heaven.  And the evil one in\nlying words began to question him:\n\n(ll. 496-506) \"Hast thou any longing, Adam, unto God?  His\nservice brings me hither from afar.  Not long since I was sitting\nat His side.  He sent me forth upon this journey to bid thee eat\nthis fruit.  He said thy strength and power would increase, thy\nmind be mightier, more beautiful thy body, and thy form more\nfair.  He said thou wouldest lack no good thing on the earth when\nthou hast won the favour of the King of heaven, served thy Lord\nwith gladness, and deserved His love.\n\n(ll. 507-521) \"In the heavenly light I heard Him speaking of thy\nlife, praising thy words and works.  Needs must thou do His\nbidding which His messengers proclaim on earth.  Broad-stretching\nare the green plains of the world, and from the highest realms of\nheaven God ruleth all things here below.  The Lord of men will\nnot Himself endure the hardship to go upon this journey, but\nsendeth His ministers to speak with thee.  He sendeth tidings\nunto thee to teach thee wisdom.  Do His will with gladness!  Take\nthis fruit in thy hand; taste and eat.  Thy heart shall grow more\nroomy and thy form more fair.  Almighty God, thy Lord, sendeth\nthis help from heaven.\"\n\n(ll. 522-546) And Adam, first of men, answered where he stood on\nearth: \"When I heard the Lord, my God, speaking with a mighty\nvoice, He bade me dwell here keeping His commandments, gave me\nthis woman, this lovely maid, bade me take heed and be not\ntempted to the tree of death and utterly beguiled, and said that\nhe who taketh to his heart one whit of evil shall dwell in\nblackest hell.  Though thou art come with lies and secret wiles,\nI know not that thou art an angel of the Lord from heaven.  Lo!\nI cannot understand thy precepts, thy words or ways, thy errand\nor thy sayings.  I know what things our Lord commanded when I\nbeheld Him nigh at hand.  He bade me heed His word, observe it\nwell, and keep His precepts.  Thou art not like to any of His\nangels that ever I have seen, nor hast thou showed me any token\nthat my Lord hath sent of grace and favour.  Therefore I cannot\nhearken to thy teachings.  Get thee hence!  I have my faith set\nfirm upon Almighty God, who with His own hands wrought me.  From\nHis high throne He giveth all good things, and needeth not to\nsend His ministers.\"\n\n\nXII\n\n(ll. 547-550) Then turned the fiend with wrathful heart to where\nhe saw Eve standing on the plains of earth, a winsome maid.  And\nunto her he said, the greatest of all ills thereafter would fall\non their descendants in the world:\n\n(ll. 551-558) \"I know God's anger will be roused against you,\nwhen from this journey through far-stretching space I come again\nto Him, and bring this message, that ye refuse to do His bidding,\nas He hath sent commandment hither from the East.  He needs must\ncome to speak with you, forsooth, nor may His minister proclaim\nHis mission!  Truly I know His wrath will be kindled against you\nin His heart!\n\n(ll. 559-587) \"But if thou, woman, wilt hearken to my words, thou\nmayest devise good counsel.  Bethink thee in thy heart to turn\naway His vengeance from you both, as I shall show thee.  Eat of\nthis fruit!  Then shall thine eyes grow keen, and thou shalt see\nafar through all the world, yea!  unto the throne of God, thy\nLord, and have His favour.  Thou mayest rule the heart of Adam,\nif thou incline to do it and he doth trust thy words, if thou\nwilt tell him truly what law thou hast in mind, to keep God's\nprecepts and commandments.  His heart will cease from bitter\nstrife and evil answers, as we two tell him for his good.  Urge\nhim earnestly to do thy bidding, lest ye be displeasing to the\nLord your God.  If thou fulfill this undertaking, thou best of\nwomen, I will not tell our Lord what evil Adam spake against me,\nhis wicked words accusing me of falsehood, saying that I am eager\nin transgression, a servant of the Fiend and not God's angel.\nBut I know well the angel race, and the high courts of heaven.\nLong ages have I served the Lord my God with loyal heart.  I am\nnot like a devil.\"\n\n(ll. 588-599) So he urged with lies and luring wiles, tempting\nthe woman unto sin, until the serpent's counsel worked within\nher--for God had wrought her soul the weaker--and her heart\ninclined according to his teaching.  Transgressing God's\ncommandment, from the fiend she took the fatal fruit of the tree\nof death.  Never was worse deed wrought for men!  Great is the\nwonder that Eternal God, the Lord, would let so many of His\nthanes be tricked with lies by one who brought such counsel.  She\nate the fruit and set at naught the will and word of God.\n\n(ll. 600-610) Then could she see afar by gift of the fiend, whose\nlies deceived and artfully ensnared her, so that it came to pass\nthe heavens appeared to her more radiant, and the earth and all\nthe world more fair, the great and mighty handiwork of God,\nthough she beheld it not by human wisdom; but eagerly the fiend\ndeceived her soul and gave her vision, that she might see afar\nacross the heavenly kingdom.  Then spake the fiend with hostile\npurpose--and nought of profit did he counsel:\n\n(ll. 610-625) \"Now mayest thou behold, most worthy Eve, nor need\nI tell thee, how fair thy beauty and thy form how changed, since\nthou didst trust my words and do my bidding.  A radiance shineth\nround about thee, gleaming splendour, which I brought forth from\nGod on high.  Thou mayest touch it!  Tell Adam what vision thou\nhast and power by my coming.  And even yet, if he will do my\nbidding with humble heart, I will give him of this light\nabundantly, as I have given thee, and will not punish his\nreviling words, though he deserves no mercy for the grievous ill\nhe spake against me.  So shall his children live hereafter!  When\nthey do evil, they must win God's love, avert His doom, and gain\nthe favour of their Lord for ever!\"\n\n(ll. 626-635) Then the lovely maid, fairest of women that ever\ncame into this world, went unto Adam.  She was the handiwork of\nthe King of heaven, though tricked with lies and utterly undone,\nso that through fiendish craft and devil's fraud she needs must\nbe displeasing to the Lord, forfeit God's favour, and lose her\nglory and her heavenly home.  So often evil dwelleth with that\nman who doth not shun it when he hath the power.\n\n(ll. 636-646) Of the fatal apples some she carried in her hands\nand some lay on her breast, the fruit of the tree of death\nwhereof the Lord of lords, the Prince of glory, had forbidden her\nto eat, saying His servants need not suffer death.  The Holy Lord\nbestowed a heavenly heritage and ample bliss on every race, if\nthey would but forgo that fruit alone, that bitter fruit, which\nthe mortal tree brought forth upon its boughs.  That was the tree\nof death which the Lord forbade them!\n\n(ll. 647-654) But the fiend, who hated God, and loathed the King\nof heaven, deceived with lies Eve's heart and erring wisdom, and\nshe believed his words and did his bidding, and came at last to\nthink his counsels were indeed from God, as he so cunningly had\nsaid.  He showed to her a token, and gave her promise of good\nfaith and friendly purpose.  Then to her lord she said:\n\n(ll. 655-665) \"Adam, my lord!  This fruit is sweet and pleasing\nto the heart; this radiant messenger is God's good angel!  I know\nby his attire he is a herald of our Lord, the King of heaven.\nBetter to win his favour than his wrath!  If thou to-day hast\nspoken aught of evil, yet will he still forgive thee, if we will\ndo his will.  Of what avail this bitter strife against the herald\nof thy Lord?  We need his favour.  For he may plead our cause\nbefore Almighty God, the King of heaven.\n\n(ll. 666-683) \"I can behold where in the south and east He who\nshaped the world sits veiled in splendour.  I see the angels\ncircling round His throne, in winged flight, unnumbered myriads,\nclothed in beauty.  Who could give me such discernment, except it\nbe sent straight from God, the Lord of heaven?  Widely may I hear\nand widely see through all the world across the broad creation.\nI hear the hymns of rapture from on high.  Radiance blazes on my\nsoul without and within since first I tasted of the fruit.  Lo!\nmy good lord!  I bring thee in my hand this fruit, and give thee\nfreely of it.  I do believe that it is come from God, and brought\nby His command, as this messenger declared in words of truth.  It\nis not like aught else on earth except, as this herald saith, it\ncometh straight from God.\"\n\n\nXIII\n\n(ll. 684-703) Long she pled, and urged him all the day to that\ndark deed, to disobey their Lord's command.  Close stood the evil\nfiend, inflaming with desire, luring with wiles, and boldly\ntempting him.  The fiend stood near at hand who on that fatal\nmission had come a long, long way.  He planned to hurl men down\nto utter death, mislead them and deceive them, that they might\nlose the gift of God, His favour and their heavenly realm.  Lo!\nwell the hell-fiend knew they must endure God's anger and the\npains of hell, suffer grim misery and woe, since they had broken\nGod's commandment, when with his lying words he tricked the\nbeauteous maid, fairest of women, unto that deed of folly, so\nthat she spake according to his will; and aided her in tempting\nunto evil the handiwork of God.\n\n(ll. 704-716) Over and over the fairest of women pled with Adam,\nuntil she began to incline his heart so that he trusted the\ncommand the woman laid upon him.  All this she did with good\nintent, and knew not that so many evils, such grim afflictions,\nwould come upon mankind, when she was moved to hearken to the\ncounsels of the evil herald; but she hoped to win God's favour by\nher words, showing such token and such pledge of truth unto the\nman, that the mind of Adam was changed within his breast, and his\nheart began to bend according to her will.\n\n(ll. 717-726) From the woman he took both death and hell,\nalthough it did not bear these names, but bore the name of fruit.\nThe sleep of death and fiends' seduction; death and hell and\nexile and damnation--these were the fatal fruit whereon they\nfeasted.  And when the apple worked within him and touched his\nheart, then laughed aloud the evilhearted fiend, capered about,\nand gave thanks to his lord for both:\n\n(ll. 726-749) \"Now have I won thy promised favour, and wrought\nthy will!  For many a day to come is man undone, Adam and Eve!\nGod's wrath shall be heavy upon them, for they have scorned His\nprecepts and commandments.  Wherefore they may no longer hold\ntheir heavenly kingdom, but they must travel the dark road to\nhell.  Thou needest not feel sorrow in thy heart, as thou liest\nin thy bonds, nor mourn in spirit that men should dwell in heaven\nabove, while we now suffer misery and pain in realms of darkness,\nand through thy pride have lost our high estate in heaven and\ngoodly dwellings.  God's anger was kindled against us because in\nheaven we would not bow our heads in service before the Holy\nLord.  It pleased us not to serve Him.  Then was God moved to\nwrath and hard of heart, and drove us into hell; cast a great\nhost into hell-fire, and with His hands prepared again in heaven\ncelestial thrones, and gave that kingdom to mankind.\n\n(ll. 750-762) \"Blithe be thy heart within thy breast!  For here\nto-day are two things come to pass: the sons of men shall lose\ntheir heavenly kingdom, and journey unto thee to burn in flame;\nalso heart-sorrow and affliction are visited on God.  Whatever\ndeath we suffer here is now repaid on Adam in the wrath of God\nand man's damnation and the pangs of death.  Therefore my heart\nis healed, my soul untrammelled in my breast.  All our injuries\nare now avenged, and all the evil that we long have suffered.\nNow will I plunge again into the flame, and seek out Satan, where\nhe lieth in hell's shadows, bound with chains.\"\n\n(ll. 762-769) Then the foul fiend sank downward to the wide-flung\nflames and gates of hell wherein his lord lay bound.  But Adam\nand Eve were wretched in their hearts; sad were the words that\npassed between them.  They feared the anger of the Lord their\nGod; they dreaded the wrath of the King of heaven.  They knew\nthat His command was broken.\n\n(ll. 770-790) The woman mourned and wept in sorrow (she had\nforfeited God's grace and broken His commandment) when she beheld\nthe radiance disappear which he who brought this evil on them had\nshowed her by a faithless token, that they might suffer pangs of\nhell and untold woe.  Wherefore heartsorrow burned within their\nbreasts.  Husband and wife they bowed them down in prayer,\nbeseeching God and calling on the Lord of heaven, and prayed that\nthey might expiate their sin, since they had broken God's\ncommandment.  They saw that their bodies were naked.  In that\nland they had as yet no settled home, nor knew they aught of pain\nor sorrow; but they might have prospered in the land if they had\ndone God's will.  Many a rueful word they uttered, husband and\nwife together.  And Adam spake unto Eve and said:\n\n(ll. 791-820) \"O Eve!  a bitter portion hast thou won us!  Dost\nthou behold the yawning gulf of hell, sunless, insatiate?  Thou\nmayest hear the groans that rise therefrom!  The heavenly realm\nis little like that blaze of fire!  Lo!  fairest of all lands is\nthis, which we, by God's grace, might have held hadst thou not\nhearkened unto him who urged this evil, so that we set at naught\nthe word of God, the King of heaven.  Now in grief we mourn that\nevil mission!  For God Himself bade us beware of sin and dire\ndisaster.  Now thirst and hunger press upon my heart whereof we\nformerly were ever free.  How shall we live or dwell now in this\nland if the wind blow from the west or east, south or north, if\nmist arise and showers of hail beat on us from the heavens, and\nfrost cometh, wondrous cold, upon the earth, or, hot in heaven,\nshineth the burning sun, and we two stand here naked and\nunclothed?  We have no shelter from the weather, nor any store of\nfood.  And the Mighty Lord, our God, is angry with us.  What\nshall become of us?  Now I repent me that I prayed the God of\nheaven, the Gracious Lord, and of my limbs He wrought thee for my\nhelpmeet, since thou hast led me unto evil and the anger of my\nLord.  Well may I repent to all eternity that ever I beheld thee\nwith mine eyes!\"\n\n\nXIV\n\n(ll. 821-823) Then spake Eve, the lovely maid, fairest of women.\n(She was the work of God, though led astray by power of the\nfiend):\n\n(ll. 824-826) \"Well mayest thou upbraid me, my dear Adam!  But\nthou canst not repent one whit more bitterly in thy heart than my\nheart repenteth.\"\n\n(ll. 826-839) And Adam answered her: \"If I but knew the will of\nGod, the penalty I needs must pay, thou couldest not find one\nmore swift to do it, though the Lord of heaven bade me go forth\nand walk upon the sea.  The ocean-stream could never be so\nwondrous deep or wide that ever my heart would doubt, but I would\ngo even unto the bottom of the sea, if I might work the will of\nGod.  I have no wish for years of manhood in the world now that I\nhave forfeited the favour of my Lord, and lost His grace.  But we\nmay not be thus together, naked.  Let us go into this grove, and\nunder the shelter of this wood.\"\n\n(ll. 840-851) And they turned and went weeping into the green\nwood, and sat them down apart from one another to wait the fate\nthe Lord of heaven should assign them, since they had lost their\nformer state and portion which Almighty God had given them.  And\nthey covered their bodies with leaves, and clothed them with the\nfoliage of the wood, for they had no garments.  And both together\nbowed in prayer; and every morning they besought Almighty God,\nthe Gracious Lord, that He would not forget them, but would teach\nthem how to live thenceforward in the light.\n\n(End of Genesis B)\n\n\n(ll. 852-866) Then came Almighty God, the Glorious Prince,\nwalking in the garden after the midday, according to His will.\nOur Saviour, the Merciful Father, would fain discover what His\nchildren did.  He knew their glory was gone which formerly He\ngave them.  Sadly they stole away into the darkness of the trees,\nbereft of glory, and hid themselves in the shadows when they\nheard the holy voice of God, and were afraid.  Then the Lord of\nheaven began to call the warden of the world, and bade His son\ncome quickly unto Him.  And he made answer unto God, and spake of\nhis nakedness with shame:\n\n(ll. 867-871) \"I will clothe my nakedness with a garment, my dear\nLord, and cover my shame with leaves.  My heart is troubled and\ncast down within me.  I dare not come before Thy presence, for I\nam naked.\"\n\n\nXV\n\n(ll. 872-881) And straightway God made answer unto him: \"Tell me,\nMy son, why stealest thou away into the darkness with shame?\nThou didst not formerly feel shame before Me, but only joy.\nWherefore art thou humbled and abashed, knowing sorrow, covering\nthy body with leaves, sad of heart and wretched in thy woe,\nsaying thou needest clothing, except thou hast eaten of the fruit\nof the tree which I forbade thee?\"\n\n(ll. 882-886) And Adam again made answer: \"My Lord!  this woman,\nthis lovely maid, gave me the fruit into my hand, and I took it\nin trespass against Thee.  And now I clearly bear the token upon\nme and know the more of sorrow.\"\n\n(ll. 887-895) Then Almighty God questioned Eve: \"Of what avail,\nMy daughter, were My abundant blessings, the new-created Paradise\nand pleasant growing things, that thou shouldest stretch thy\nhands with yearning unto the tree, and pluck the apples growing\non its boughs, and eat the deadly fruit in trespass against Me,\nand give to Adam, when by My word it was forbidden to you both?\"\n\n(ll. 895-902) And the lovely woman, put to shame, made answer:\n\"The serpent, the deadly snake, with fair words tempted me, and\neagerly enticed me to that deed of sin and evil appetite, until I\nbasely did the deed and wrought the wrong, despoiled the tree\nwithin the wood, as was not right, and ate the fruit.\"\n\n(ll. 903-905) Then our Saviour, the Almighty Lord, decreed unto\nthe serpent, the guilty snake, an endless wandering, and said:\n\n(ll. 906-917) \"All thy life upon thy belly shalt thou go to and\nfro upon the fields of the broad earth, accursed, so long as life\nand spirit dwell within thee.  Dust shalt thou eat all the days\nof thy life for the grievous evil thou hast wrought.  The woman\nshall loathe and hate thee under heaven.  Her foot shall crush\nthy head, and thou shalt bruise her heel anew.  There shall be\nstrife between your seed for ever, while the world standeth under\nheaven.  Now thou knowest clearly, thou foul tempter, what thy\nlife shall be.\"\n\n\nXVI\n\n(ll. 918-924) And unto Eve God spake in wrath: \"Turn thee from\njoy!  Thou shalt live under man's dominion, sore smitten with\nfear before him.  With bitter sorrow shalt thou expiate thy sin,\nwaiting for death, bringing forth sons and daughters in the world\nwith grief and tears and lamentation.\"\n\n(ll. 925-938) And on Adam the Eternal God, Author of life,\npronounced an evil doom: \"Thou shalt seek another home, a joyless\ndwelling.  Naked and needy shalt thou suffer exile, shorn of thy\nglory.  Thy soul and body shall be cleft asunder.  Lo!  thou hast\nsinned a grievous sin.  Therefore shalt thou labour, winning thy\nportion on the earth by toil, eating thy bread in the sweat of\nthy brow while thou dwellest here, until that grim disease, which\nfirst thou tasted in the apple, shall grip hard at thy heart.  So\nshalt thou die.\"\n\n(ll. 939-951) Lo!  now we know how our afflictions came upon us,\nand mortal misery!  Then the Lord of glory, our Creator, clothed\nthem with garments, and bade them cover their shame with their\nfirst raiment.  He drove them forth from Paradise into a narrower\nlife.  By God's command a holy angel, with a sword of fire,\nclosed fast that pleasant home of peace and joy behind them.  No\nwicked, sinful man may walk therein, but the warden has strength\nand power, dear unto God in virtue, who guards that life of\nglory.\n\n(ll. 952-964) Yet the Almighty Father would not take away from\nAdam and from Eve, at once, all goodly things, though He withdrew\nHis favour from them.  But for their comfort He left the sky\nabove them adorned with shining stars, gave them wide-stretching\nfields, and bade the earth and sea and all their teeming\nmultitudes to bring forth fruits to serve man's earthly need.\nAfter their sin they dwelt in a realm more sorrowful, a home and\nnative land less rich in all good things than was their first\nabode, wherefrom He drove them out after their sin.\n\n(ll. 965-987) Then, according to the word of God, Adam and Eve\nbegat children, as God had bidden.  To them were born two goodly\nsons, Abel and Cain: the books tell us how these brothers, first\nof toilers, gained wealth and goods and store of food.  One, the\nfirst-born, tilled the fields; the other aided with his father's\ncattle; and after many days they both brought offerings to God.\nThe Prince of angels, Lord of every creature, lifted up His eyes\non Abel's offering and would not look upon the gift of Cain.  And\nthe heart of Cain was bitter; wrath shook his soul, and envy\nburned within him.  Then with his hands Cain wrought a deed of\nshame, struck down his brother Abel, and poured his blood upon\nthe ground.  The earth drank in his blood poured out in murder.\n\n(ll. 987-1001) After that mortal blow came woe and tribulation.\nFrom that shoot grew more and more a deadly bitter fruit, and the\nboughs of sin stretched far and wide among the nations;\ngrievously the twigs of evil touched the sons of men (and do so\nyet), and from them grew broad blades of wickedness.  With\nlamentation must we tell that tale of evil fate, not without\ncause.  Grievous the ruin the lovely woman wrought us by that\nfirst of sins that ever men on earth had sinned against their\nMaker since Adam first was filled with breath from the mouth of\nGod.\n\n\nXVII\n\n(ll. 1002-1005) Then the Lord of glory spake unto Cain, and asked\nwhere Abel was.  Quickly the cursed fashioner of death made\nanswer unto Him:\n\n(ll. 1006-1008) \"I know not the coming or going of Abel, my\nkinsman, his lot or portion; I was not my brother's keeper.\"\n\n(ll. 1008-1021) And the Gracious Spirit, Lord of angels, made\nanswer unto him: \"Why hast thou slain that faithful man thy\nbrother in thy wrath, and his blood calleth and crieth unto Me?\nAccursed for ever, driven into exile, thou shalt be punished for\nthis deed of death!  The earth shall not yield thee of her\npleasant fruits for thy daily need, but by thy hands her soil is\nstained with holy blood.  Therefore the green earth shall\nwithhold from thee her beauty and her delights.  In sadness and\ndishonour shalt thou depart from thy home, because thou hast\nslain thy brother, Abel.  Loathed of thy kinsmen, an exile and a\nfugitive, shalt thou wander on the face of the earth.\"\n\n(ll. 1022-1035) And Cain made answer unto Him: ... \"I need not\nlook for pity in this world, High King of heaven, for I have lost\nThy love and favour and goodwill.  Weary the ways my feet must\nwander, in dread of woe, whenever one shall meet me in my guilt,\nnear or far, and by his hate remind me of my brother's death.  I\nshed his blood and poured his life-blood on the ground.  From\nthis day hast Thou cut me off from good!  Thou scourgest me from\nhome!  Some cruel foe shall slay me.  And I must needs go forth,\naccursed, from Thy sight, O Lord!\"\n\n(ll. 1036-1043) And the Lord of victory said unto him: \"Thou\nneedest not yet dread death, nor the pangs of death, though thou\nshalt wander, far from kinsmen, with thy doom upon thee.  If any\nman shall slay thee with his hands, on him shall fall a\nseven-fold vengeance, and torment for that deed of sin.\"\n\n(ll. 1043-1054) And God, the Lord of glory, set a mark upon him\nand a token, lest any foe from far or near should dare to lift\nhis hand against him; and He bade him go forth in his guilt from\nmother and kinsmen and from all his tribe.  Then with despairing\nheart, a friendless exile, Cain departed out of the sight of God,\nand chose a home and dwelling in the eastern lands, far from his\nfather's house; and there a comely maiden bare him children after\nhis kind.\n\n(ll. 1055-1073) Enoch was first-born of the sons of Cain.  He\nbuilt a city with his kinsmen, the first of all those strongholds\nunder heaven which sword-girt men established; and in the city\nsons were born to him.  Irad was first-born of the sons of Enoch;\nand he begat children, and all the tribe and race of Cain\nincreased.  And after Irad Mahalaleel was warden of the treasure,\nin his father's stead, until he died.  Then Methusael dispensed\nthe treasure to his brothers and his kinsmen, man for man, till,\nfull of many years, he died.\n\n(ll. 1073-1081) And at his father's death Lamech succeeded to the\ntreasure and the household goods.  Two wives bare children to him\nin his home, Adah and Zillah.  Now one of the sons of Lamech was\ncalled Jabal; and he was first of all men by his skill to stir\nthe harp to music and its strings to song.\n\n\nXVIII\n\n(ll. 1082-1089) And there was also in that tribe another son of\nLamech, called Tubal Cain, a smith skilled in his craft.  He was\nthe first of all men on the earth to fashion tools of husbandry;\nand far and wide the city-dwelling sons of men made use of bronze\nand iron.\n\n(ll. 1090-1103) Then to his two beloved wives, Adah and Zillah,\nLamech rehearsed a tale of shame: \"I have struck down a kinsman\nunto death!  I have defiled my hands with the blood of Cain!  I\nsmote down Enoch's father, slayer of Abel, and poured his blood\nupon the ground.  Full well I know that for that mortal deed\nshall come God's seven-fold vengeance.  With fearful torment\nshall my deed of death and murder be requited, when I go hence.\"\n\n(ll. 1104-1111) Then another son was born to Adam in Abel's\nstead; and his name was Seth.  He was a righteous son and\nblessed, a solace to his parents, his father and mother, Adam and\nEve.  And he filled the place of Abel in the world.  Then Adam\nspake, the first of men:\n\n(ll. 1111-1116) \"The eternal God of victory, the Lord of life,\nhath vouchsafed me another son in place of my beloved whom Cain\nslew.  So our Lord hath stilled the sorrow of my heart.  To Him\nbe thanks!\"\n\n(ll. 1117-1127) Now, when Adam begat another son to be his heir,\nthat sturdy man had lived an hundred and thirty winters of this\nlife in the world.  The writings tell us that Adam increased his\ntribe on earth, begetting sons and daughters eight hundred years.\nAnd all the years of Adam were nine hundred and thirty winters,\nand he died.\n\n(ll. 1128-1142) And Seth succeeded Adam: at his father's death\nthe well-loved son possessed the treasure, and took himself a\nwife.  And Seth lived an hundred and five winters in the world\nand increased his tribe, begetting sons and daughters.  Enos was\nfirst-born of the sons of Seth; and he was first of all the sons\nof men to call upon the name of God since Adam, first a living\nspirit, set foot on the green earth.  Seth prospered, eight\nhundred and seven winters begetting sons and daughters.  And all\nthe years of Seth were nine hundred and twelve winters, and he\ndied.\n\n(ll. 1143-1154) And after he went hence, and the earth received\nthe body of seed-bearing Seth, Enos was warden of the heritage.\nDear was he unto God!  He lived for ninety winters in the world,\nand begat children.  And Cainan was first-born of the sons of\nEnos.  Eight hundred and fifteen winters the man of wisdom lived,\nat peace with God, begetting sons and daughters.  And all the\nyears of Enos were nine hundred and five winters, and he died.\n\n(ll. 1155-1166) And after Enos Cainan ruled the tribe as lord and\nleader.  He lived seventy winters, and begat a son.  An heir was\nborn unto his house, and his name was Mahalaleel.  Eight hundred\nand forty winters Cainan lived, and increased his tribe.  And all\nthe years of the son of Enos were nine hundred and ten winters,\nand he died, and his appointed days beneath the heavens were\nfulfilled.\n\n\nXIX\n\n(ll. 1167-1180) And after Cainan Mahalaleel possessed the land\nand treasure many a year.  The prince lived five-and-sixty\nwinters, and begat a son.  An heir was born unto his house, and\nhis kinsmen called him Jared, as I have heard.  Mahalaleel lived\nlong, enjoying bliss on earth, the joys of men, and worldly\ntreasure.  And all the years of Mahalaleel were eight hundred\nfive-and-ninety winters, and he died, and gave the land and rule\nunto his son.\n\n(ll. 1180-1196) A long time Jared dealt out gold to men.  He was\na righteous prince, a noble earl, dear to his kinsmen  He lived\nan hundred five-and-sixty winters in the world, and, when her\ntime was come, his wife brought forth her first-born, a goodly\nson.  And his name was Enoch.  Eight hundred years his father\nlived, and increased his tribe.  And all the years of Jared were\nnine hundred five-and-sixty winters, and he died, and gave the\nland and rule unto his son, the wise and well-loved prince.\n\n(ll. 1197-1217) And Enoch ruled the folk, led them in ways of\npeace, and no wise let his sway and power lessen, while he was\nlord over his kinsmen.  Now Enoch prospered and increased his\ntribe three hundred years.  And God, the Lord of heaven, was\ngracious unto him!  In his natural body he entered into heavenly\njoy and the glory of God, dying no mortal death as men do here,\nthe young and old, what time God taketh from them wealth and\nsubstance and earthly treasure and their life; but with the King\nof angels he departed still alive out of this fleeting life, in\nthe same vestments which his soul received before his mother bare\nhim.  He left the people to his eldest son.  And all the years of\nEnoch were three hundred five-and-sixty winters, and he died.\n\n(ll. 1217-1224) Then Methuselah held sway among his kinsmen, and\nlongest of all men enjoyed the pleasures of this world.  He begat\na multitude of sons and daughters before his death.  And all the\nyears of Methuselah were nine hundred and seventy winters, and he\ndied.\n\n(ll. 1224-1236) And Lamech, his son, succeeded him and kept the\ntreasure.  Long time he ruled the land.  He lived an hundred and\ntwo winters, and begat children.  And the lord and leader of the\nfolk lived five hundred five-and-ninety years, enjoying many\nwinters under heaven, ruling the folk with wisdom.  And Lamech\nincreased his tribe, begetting sons and daughters.  He called the\nname of the first-born Noah; and Noah ruled the land after the\ndeath of Lamech.\n\n(ll. 1237-1247) Now Noah, the lord of men, lived five hundred\nwinters, as the books say, and begat children.  The first-born\nson of Noah was Shem, and the second Ham, and the third Japheth.\nAnd the folk grew in number under heaven, and the multitude of\nthe race of men increased throughout the earth.  The tribe of\nSeth, the well-loved prince, was still exceeding dear to God, and\nblessed in His love!\n\n\nXX\n\n(ll. 1248-1254) Then the sons of God began to take them wives\nfrom the tribe of Cain, a cursed folk, and the sons of men chose\nthem wives from among that people, the fair and winsome daughters\nof that sinful race, against the will of God.  Then the Lord of\nheaven lifted up His voice in wrath against mankind, and said:\n\n(ll. 1255-1262) \"Lo!  I have not been unmindful of the sons of\nmen, but the tribe of Cain hath sorely angered Me.  The sons of\nSeth have stirred My wrath against them; they have taken them\nwives from among the daughters of My foes.  Woman's beauty and\nwoman's grace and the eternal fiend have taken hold upon this\npeople who dwelt of old in peace.\"\n\n(ll. 1263-1284) An hundred and twenty numbered winters in the\nworld that fated folk were busied in evil.  Then the Lord\nresolved to punish those faithless spirits, and slay the sinful\ngiant sons, undear to God, those huge, unholy scathers, loathsome\nto the Lord.  The King of victory beheld how great was the\nwickedness of men on earth, and saw that they were bold in sin\nand full of wiles.  He resolved to bring destruction on the\ntribes of men, and smite mankind with heavy hand.  It repented\nHim exceedingly that He had made man, and the first of men, when\nHe created Adam.  He said that for the sins of men He would lay\nwaste the earth, and all that was upon the earth, destroying\nevery living thing that breathed the breath of life.  All this\nwould the Lord destroy in the days that were coming on the sons\nof men.\n\n(ll. 1285-1295) But Noah, the son of Lamech, was good and dear to\nGod, exceeding blessed, just and meek.  And the Lord knew that\nvirtue flourished in the heart of Noah.  Wherefore God, the Holy\nLord of every creature, spake unto Noah, declaring His wrath and\nvengeance on the sons of men.  For He saw that the earth was full\nof wickedness, and its broad and fertile meadows filled with sin\nand defiled with uncleanness.  And the Lord our God spake unto\nNoah, and said:\n\n(ll. 1296-1313) \"I will destroy this people with a flood, man and\nevery living thing that the air and the seas bring forth and\nnourish, birds of the air and beasts of the field.  But thou, and\nthy sons with thee, shall have mercy when the black waters, the\ndark, destroying floods, shall overwhelm the hosts of sinful men.\nBegin to build thee a ship, a mighty seahouse, and in it make\nabiding-room for many, and set a rightful place for every tribe\nof earth.  Build floors within the ark, dividing it in stories.\nAnd thou shalt build it three hundred cubits long and fifty\ncubits wide and thirty cubits high, and fasten it firmly against\nthe might of the waves.  And thou shalt take within the ark the\nseed of every living thing, and the offspring of all flesh upon\nthe earth.  And the ark must hold them all.\"\n\n(ll. 1314-1319) And Noah did according as God commanded him.  He\nhearkened unto the Holy King of heaven, and began straightway to\nbuild the ark, a mighty sea-chest.  And unto his kinsmen he\nproclaimed destruction coming upon men, and bitter vengeance.\nAnd they heeded him not.\n\n(ll. 1320-1326) Then after many winters the Faithful Lord beheld\nthe greatest of ocean-houses, Noah's vessel, towering up, made\ntight with the best of pitch within and without against the\nfloods.  And it was best of all its kind, growing more hard the\nmore the rough waves and the black sea-streams beat up against\nit.\n\n\nXXI\n\n(l. 1327) Then our Lord said unto Noah:\n\n(ll. 1328-1355) \"I give thee My pledge, dearest of men, that thou\nmayest go thy way, thou and the seed of every living thing which\nthou shalt ferry through the deep water for many a day in the\nbosom of the ship.  Lead on board the ark, as I bid thee, thy\nhousehold, thy wife and thy three sons, and thy sons' wives with\nthee.  And take within that sea-home seven of every kind of\nliving thing that serve as food for men, and two of every other\nkind.  Likewise of all the fruits of the earth take food for the\ncompany upon thy ship, who with thee shall be saved from the\nflood!  Care well for every creature until I shall cause food to\ngrow again beneath the heavens for the survivors of the ocean\nfloods.  Depart now with thy household and thy host of guests,\nembarking on the ship.  I know that thou art good, and of a\nsteadfast mind.  Thou art worthy of grace and mercy, thou and thy\nchildren.  Lo!  for seven nights I shall let the rains descend\nupon the face of the broad earth.  Forty days will I visit My\nwrath upon men, with a deluge destroying the riches of the world\nand the tribes of men, save what shall be upon the ark when the\nblack floods begin to rise.\"\n\n(ll. 1356-1371) And Noah departed, as the Lord commanded,\nembarking his household upon the ark, leading up his sons into\nthe ship, and their wives with them.  All that Almighty God would\nhave for seed went in under the roof of the ark unto their\nfood-giver, even according as the Mighty Lord of hosts gave\nbidding by His word.  And the Warden of that heavenly kingdom,\nthe God of victories, locked the door of the ocean-house behind\nhim with His hands, and our Lord blessed all within the ark with\nHis blessing.  Now Noah, the son of Lamech, had lived six hundred\nwinters, wise and full of years, when he went up with the young\nmen, his beloved sons, into the ark, as God gave bidding.\n\n(ll. 1371-1399) Then the Lord sent the rains from heaven, and\ncaused the black sea-streams to roar, and the fountains of the\ndeep to overflow the world.  The seas surged up over the barriers\nof the shore.  Mighty in His wrath was He who rules the waters!\nAnd He overwhelmed and covered the mortal sons of sin with a\nblack deluge, laying waste the native land and homes of men.  God\nvisited their offences upon them.  Forty days and forty nights\nthe sea laid hold on that doomed folk.  Dire was that disaster\nand deadly unto men.  The stormy surges of the King of glory\nquenched the life from out the bodies of that sinful host.  The\nflood, raging beneath the heavens, covered over all high hills\nthroughout the spacious earth, and lifted up the ark from the\nearth upon the bosom of the waters, and all within the ark, whom\nthe Lord our God had blessed when He locked the door of the ship.\nThen far and wide that best of ocean-houses and its burden\nfloated beneath the heavens over the compass of the sea.  The\nraging terrors of the deep might not lay hold on ship or\nmariners, but Holy God ferried them upon the sea and shielded\nthem.  Fifteen cubits deep upon the hills the deluge lay.  That\nwas a grievous fate!\n\n(ll. 1400-1406) But no harm came nigh unto the ark, save that it\nwas lifted up to heaven, when the flood destroyed all creatures\non the earth; but Holy God, the Eternal King, the Lord of heaven,\nstern of heart, preserved the ark when He unleashed the ocean\ncurrents and their changing streams.\n\n\nXXII\n\n(ll. 1407-1412) And God, the Lord of victory, was mindful of\nthose mariners, of the son of Lamech, and all the living things\nwhich the Author of life and light had locked within the bosom of\nthe ship against the waters' might.  The Lord of hosts guided the\nwarriors by His word across the world.\n\n(ll. 1412-1421) Then the welling floods began to lessen and the\nblack tides ebbed beneath the heavens.  The Just God turned the\nwaters again from His children and stilled the downpour of the\nrains.  Foamy-necked the ship fared on an hundred and fifty\nnights beneath the heavens, after the flood had lifted up that\nbest of vessels with its well-nailed sides--until at last the\nappointed number of the days of wrath were passed away.\n\n(ll. 1421-1430) And the ark of Noah, the greatest of seahomes,\nwith its burden, rested high upon the hills which are called\nArmenia.  There the holy son of Lamech waited many days for God's\nfaithful covenant to be fulfilled, when the Warden of life, the\nLord Almighty, would give him respite from the perils he had\nsuffered while the black waves bore him far and wide upon the\nwaters over the spacious earth.\n\n(ll. 1431-1448) The floods receded, and those sea-tossed men,\ntogether with their wives, longed for the hour when they might\nleave their narrow home, and step across the well-nailed sides\nupon the shore, and from their prison lead out their possessions.\nAnd Noah, the helmsman of the ark, made trial whether the\nseafloods yet were ebbing under heaven.  After many days, while\nthe high hills yet harboured the seed and treasure of the tribes\nof earth, the son of Lamech let a dusky raven fly forth from the\nark over the deep flood.  And Noah was sure that in its need, if\nso be it should find no land upon this journey, the raven would\nreturn to him again within the ark across the wide water.  But\nNoah's hope failed him!  Exulting the raven perched upon the\nfloating bodies of the dead; the black-winged bird would not\nreturn.\n\n(ll. 1449-1463) And seven days after the dusky raven he let a\ngrey dove fly forth from the ark across the deep water, making\ntrial whether the high and foaming floods had yet receded from\nany region of the green earth.  Widely she sought her heart's\ndesire, circling afar, but nowhere finding rest.  Because of the\nfloods she might not set foot upon the land, nor settle on the\nbranch of any tree because of the ocean-streams.  The high hills\nwere covered by the deep.  And so at evening over the dusky wave\nthe wild bird sought the ark, settling hungry and weary into the\nhands of that holy man.\n\n(ll. 1464-1476) And again after seven days a second dove was sent\nforth from the ark.  The wild bird circled widely till she found\na refuge and a pleasant resting-place, and settled in a tree.\nBlithe of heart, she rejoiced that in her weariness she might\nfind rest upon its pleasant branches.  She shook her feathers and\nflew back with a gift, bearing as she flew a branch of an olive\ntree with its green blades.  And the prince of shipmen knew that\ncomfort was at hand, and a requital of their toilsome voyage.\n\n(ll. 1476-1482) And again after seven days the blessed man sent\nforth a third wild dove.  And she flew not back unto the ark, but\ncame to land and the green forests.  Her heart was glad; never\nagain would she appear under the black roof of the ark.  Nor was\nthere need!\n\n\nXXIII\n\n(ll. 1483-1484) Then our Lord, the Warden of the heavenly\nkingdom, with holy word spake unto Noah:\n\n(ll. 1485-1492) \"For thee again on earth a fair abiding-place is\nfounded, blessings upon the land, and rest from far sea-wandering.\nDepart in peace out of the ark; go forth upon the bosom of the earth.\nAnd from the high ship lead thy household, and all the living things\nwhich graciously I shielded against the flood, so long as the sea\nheld sway and covered thy third home.\"\n\n(ll. 1493-1511) And Noah hearkened unto God with great rejoicing,\nand did according as the Voice commanded.  And he went out upon\nthe shore, and led forth from the ark all who had survived that\ntime of woe.  Then Noah, wise of counsel, began to offer\nsacrifice to God.  And for an offering he took a part of all his\ngoods which God had given him to enjoy, and, great in wisdom and\nin glory, made sacrifice to God, the King of angels.  And\nstraightway our Lord made known that He had blessed Noah, and\nNoah's children, because he had offered that thank-offering, and\nin his youth by good deeds had deserved the bounteous mercies\nwhich Almighty God in majesty bestowed upon him.  And God, the\nLord of glory, spake unto Noah and said:\n\n(ll. 1512-1531) \"Be fruitful and multiply, enjoying honour,\ndelighting in peace.  Fill all the earth with your increase.  To\nyou is given the home of your fathers, dominion over the fish of\nthe sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the field,\nover all the green earth and its teeming herds.  Never shall ye\neat in blood your shameful feasts through sin defiled with blood.\nFor most he injureth himself and his soul's honour whoso shall\nslay another with the sword.  Verily!  in no wise shall his heart\nhave joy in his reward!  For many times more heavily will I\navenge man's life upon his murderer, because his sword hath\nprospered in violence and blood, and his hands in death.  Man was\nfirst fashioned in the image of God.  Each hath the form of God\nand of the angels, whoso will keep My holy laws.\n\n(ll. 1532-1542) \"Be fruitful and multiply, enjoying grace on\nearth and every pleasant thing.  Fill all the regions of the\nearth with your increase, your issue, and your seed.  And unto\nyou I give My covenant that never again will I bring the waters\nupon the earth or a flood on the wide-stretching land.  Oft shall\nye behold the token of My promise in the heavens, when I show\nforth My rainbow, that I will keep this covenant with men while\nthe world standeth.\"\n\n(ll. 1543-1554) And the wise son of Lamech, the warden of wealth,\ncame forth from the ship as the flood receded, and his three sons\nwith him.  And their four wives were called Percoba, and Olla,\nand Olliva, and Ollivani.  The Faithful Lord had saved them to\nsurvive the flood.  And Noah's stout-hearted sons were Shem and\nHam, and the third was Japheth.  From them sprang many peoples,\nand all the earth was filled with the sons of men.\n\n(ll. 1555-1561) Then a second time Noah began to establish a home\nwith his kinsmen, and to till the earth for food.  He toiled and\nwrought and planted a vineyard and sowed seed, and laboured that\nthe green earth might bring forth her shining harvests, her\ngleaming crops, in every season.\n\n(ll. 1562-1576) And it came to pass upon a time that the blessed\nman lay drunk with wine in his dwelling, and slumbered heavy with\nfeasting, and cast off his robe from his body, as was not seemly,\nand lay there naked of limb.  Little did he know what evil plight\nwas his in his dwelling, while drunkenness had hold upon his\nheart within him in its holy house.  But his soul was fast bound\nin slumber, so that in his stupor he might not cover himself with\na garment, nor hide his shame, as was decreed for man and woman\nwhat time the thane of glory with a sword of fire behind our\nfirst great parents locked the gates of life.\n\n(ll. 1577-1588) Then Ham, the son of Noah, went in where his lord\nlay sleeping, and would not look with reverence upon his father,\nnor cover his shame.  But he laughed, and told his brothers how\ntheir lord lay sleeping in his home.  And straightway, covering\ntheir faces with their cloaks, they went in unto the well-beloved\nto bring him succour.  For both were good of heart, both Shem and\nJapheth.\n\n(ll. 1588-1603) Then the son of Lamech awoke from his slumber,\nand learned that Ham had failed to show him reverence or love\nwhen he had greatest need.  And the holy man was grieved in his\nheart, and set a curse upon his son, saying that Ham should be an\noutcast under heaven and servant to his kinsmen on the earth.\nAnd the curse lay heavy upon him and on all his tribe.  And Noah\nand his sons as freemen ruled a wide-stretching realm for three\nhundred and fifty winters of this life, after the flood.  Then he\nwent hence.  And his sons possessed his wealth, and begat\nchildren and prospered.\n\n(ll. 1603-1616) Children were born unto Japheth, a glad\nhearth-band of sons and daughters.  He was a godly man, enjoying\nbliss and blessing with his children, until his soul within his\nbreast, ready to depart, must needs go forth unto the glory of\nGod.  And Gormer, Japheth's son, dispensed his father's treasure\namong his friends and kinsmen, near and dear.  And no little\nportion of the earth was filled with their increase.\n\n(ll. 1616-1628) Likewise sons were born unto Ham.  The names of\nthe eldest were called Cush and Ham, two goodly youths, his\nfirst-born sons.  And Cush was ruler of his tribe, dispensing joy\nand worldly wealth and treasure unto his brothers in his father's\nstead, after Ham died, and his soul departed from this earthly\nbody.  He ruled his tribe and gave them laws until his days were\nrun.  Then he gave over earthly riches and sought another life\nand his Father's bosom.\n\n(ll. 1628-1636) And the first-born son of Cush, a far-famed man,\nheld his ancestral seat.  The writings tell us that of all men\nthen alive his strength and power were greatest.  He was lord of\nthe kingdom of Babylon, and first of princes to exalt her glory.\nHe enlarged her borders and brought her fame.\n\n\nXXV\n\n(ll. 1637-1639) Now there was yet one common tongue for all men\non the earth.  And a great tribe was born of the stem of Ham and\na mighty people spreading far and wide.\n\n(ll. 1640-1660) And Shem begat a host of free-born sons and\ndaughters, and, after many winters, went to his last rest.  In\nthat tribe men were good!  One of the sons of Shem was Eber, and\nfrom him sprang a countless race which all men dwelling in the\nearth call Hebrews.  They departed out of the east, taking with\nthem all their substance, their cattle and their goods.  That was\na dauntless folk!  The heroes sought a roomier land, a wandering\nfolk, in mighty multitudes, and chose at last a fixed abode\nwherein to settle.  Far and wide in days of old the leaders of\nthat people, with their well-loved men, possessed the land of\nShinar, a land of green plains and pleasant valleys.  And at that\ntime they prospered greatly, and had abundance of all good\nthings.\n\n(ll. 1661-1678) Then many a man besought his friend, and one\nstout warrior urged another, that, before their multitude and the\ntribes of their people should be scattered again over the face of\nthe whole earth in search of land, they should build a city to\ntheir glory and rear a tower unto the stars of heaven, to be a\nsign that they had sought the land of Shinar, where of old the\nmighty leaders of the folk had lived at ease.  And they sought\nout men for this work and deed of sin, in rash pride showing\nforth their strength.  Greedy for glory, they reared a city with\ntheir hands, and raised a ladder up to heaven, and in their vain\nstrength built a wall of stone beyond the measure of men.\n\n(ll. 1678-1701) Then came Holy God to look upon the work of the\nchildren of men, the citadel and the tower which the sons of Adam\nwere beginning to rear unto heaven.  Stern of heart, the King\nreproved their folly, and in His wrath confounded the tongues of\nthe dwellers of earth, and they might not prosper in their\nspeech.  Then the leaders of the work in pride of strength met\ntogether about the tower in many bands.  But no one band could\nunderstand another.  And they left off to build the wall of\nstone, and were wretchedly sundered into tribes divided by their\nspeech.  And every tribe became alien to every other tribe, when\nthe Lord in His might sundered the speech of men.  So the divided\nsons of men were scattered on four ways in search of land.  And\nbehind them the steadfast tower of stone, and the high citadel,\nstood unfinished together in the land of Shinar.\n\n(ll. 1702-1718) Now the tribe of Shem increased and flourished\nunder heaven.  And a certain man of that tribe, of thoughtful\nheart and given to virtue, had noble children.  Two goodly sons\nwere born to him, and bred in Babylon, great-hearted princes\nnamed Abraham and Haran.  And the Lord of angels was their guide\nand friend.  Now Haran had a noble son, whose name was Lot.  And\nAbraham and Lot throve excellently before the Lord as was their\nnature from their elders.  Wherefore men proclaim their virtues\nfar and wide upon the earth.\n\n\nXXVI\n\n(ll. 1719-1729) Then was the time fulfilled, and Abraham brought\na wife unto his home, a fair and comely woman to his dwelling.\nAnd her name was Sarah, as the writings tell us.  Many a winter\nthey enjoyed the world, prospering in peace for many a year.  But\nit was not given unto Abraham that his comely wife should bear\nhim children, or an heir unto his house.\n\n(ll. 1730-1743) And Abraham's father went out with his household,\nand with all their substance, journeying through the realm of the\nChaldeans.  Fain would the wise lord with his kinsfolk seek the\nland of Canaan.  And Abraham and Lot, his kinsmen, dear to God,\ndeparted with him out of that country.  The noble sons of men\nchose them a dwelling in the land of Haran, and their wives with\nthem.  And Abraham's father, the faithful, died in that land.\nAnd all his years were two hundred and five winters, and he\ndeparted, full of years, to see God.\n\n(ll. 1744-1766) Then the Holy Warden of the heavenly kingdom,\nEternal God, said unto Abraham: \"Go forth from this place, and\nlead thy household and thy cattle with thee.  Get thee out of the\nland of Haran, and from thy father's home.  Journey as I bid\nthee, dearest of men; hearken to My teachings, and seek the land\nof green, wide-stretching plains, which I shall show thee.\nBlessed shalt thou live in My protection.  If any of the dwellers\nof earth greet thee with evil, him will I curse for thy sake; and\nI will set My anger upon him and My enduring wrath.  But unto\nthem that honour thee will I be gracious and give them all their\nheart's desire.  Through thee all nations dwelling in the earth\nshall have My peace and friendship, My bliss and blessing in the\nworld.  The number of thy tribe, thy sons and daughters, shall be\nincreased beneath the heavens, until the earth and many a land\nshall be filled with thy seed.\"\n\n(ll. 1767-1786) And Abraham, great in virtue and blessed with\ngold and silver, departed with much substance out of the land of\nHaran, leading his herds and his possessions, even unto the\nborders of the Egyptians, according as our God, the Lord of\nvictory, commanded by His word, and sought a dwelling in the land\nof Canaan.  Beloved of God, he came with gladness to that land,\nand his wife with him, the dear companion of his bed, and the\nwife of his brother's son.  And his years were five-and-seventy\nwinters when he went out from the land of Haran, and from his\nkinsmen.  And Abraham was mindful of the words of the Almighty\nFather, and journeyed through all the borders of that people, at\nhis Lord's behest, to view the land afar, and came at last in\nsafety, with undaunted heart, to Sichem and the Canaanites.  And\nthe Just Lord, the King of angels, revealed Himself to Abraham\nand said:\n\n(ll. 1787-1790) \"This is the roomy land, the beautiful, green\nrealm, adorned with increase, which I will give thy seed to\nrule.\"\n\n(ll. 1790-1804) And there the prince builded an altar to the\nLord, and offered up a sacrifice to God, the Lord of life,\nProtector of all souls.  And Abraham departed again out of the\neast to view with his eyes this best of lands (and he was mindful\nof the gracious promise which the Heavenly Warden, the Lord of\nvictory, had given by His holy word) until they came with their\nmultitudes unto a village called Bethel.  Out of the east their\nleader, blithe of heart, and his brother's son, Godfearing men,\njourneyed with all their substance through far-famed lands, and\nover high, steep hills, and chose a dwelling where the fields\nseemed wondrous fair.\n\n\nXXVII\n\n(ll. 1805-1810) And again Abraham builded an altar, calling\nearnestly on God, and offered sacrifice unto the Lord of life.\nAnd God was gracious, and with unsparing hand granted him reward\nupon the altar.\n\n(ll. 1811-1823) And for a time thereafter the prince abode in his\ndwellings, and his wife with him, enjoying all good things, until\na grievous famine fell upon the tribes of Canaan, and bitter\nhunger, grim as death to men within their homes.  Then Abraham,\nwise of heart, and chosen of the Lord, betook him into Egypt to\nseek a place of refuge.  The faithful hero fled from that\naffliction; too bitter was the woe.  And, in the wisdom of his\nheart, when he beheld the gabled palaces and high-walled towns of\nthe Egyptians gleaming brightly, Abraham began to speak unto his\nwife and counsel her:\n\n(ll. 1824-1843) \"Lo!  many a proud Egyptian shall behold thy\nbeauty, maiden of elfin grace!  And if one look upon thee with\ndesire, thinking thou art my wife, I fear lest, in his longing\nfor thy love, some foe may slay me with the sword.  Therefore,\nSarah, say thou art my sister and my kin, if any stranger\nquestion what the bond may be between us two of alien race and\ndistant home.  Conceal the truth!  So shalt thou save my life if\nGod, our Lord Almighty, who sent us on this journey, that we\nmight strive for honour and advantage among the Egyptians, will\ngrant me His protection as of old, and longer life.\"\n\n(ll. 1844-1872) So Abraham, the dauntless earl, came journeying\nwith all his substance into Egypt, where men were alien to him\nand friends unknown.  And many a proud earl, great in glory,\nfound the woman fair; to many a bold thanes of the king she\nseemed of royal beauty; and this they told their lord.  They\nlittle thought of any fairer maid, but praised the winsome\nloveliness of Sarah more highly to their prince, until he bade\nthem bring the lovely woman to his hall.  And the lord of men,\ndispenser of treasure, bade them show honour upon Abraham.  But\nthe Lord God visited His anger upon Pharaoh because of his love\nof the woman; bitterly the prince of men atoned, and all his\nhousehold.  He knew why the Lord afflicted him with plagues!\nThen the prince of Egypt called Abraham before him, who was sore\nafraid; and he gave him his wife again and his consort, and bade\nhim seek friends elsewhere, other princes and another folk.  And\nhe bade his thanes and serving men conduct him, uninjured and\nwith honour, out from among that people, that he might be at\npeace.\n\n(ll. 1873-1889) So Abraham took his possessions and went out from\nthe land of Egypt.  Brave men conveyed the maiden, the bride with\nrings adorned, and they led their flocks and earthly riches unto\nBethel to their olden dwellings again, wife and wealth and\nworldly treasure.  They began to build there, to found a city,\nand renew their halls and establish a home.  And they builded an\naltar in the plain near that which Abraham had built aforetime to\nhis God, when he came out of the west.  And there the blessed man\nof noble heart gave praise anew unto the name of the Eternal\nLord, offering sacrifice unto the Prince of angels, and giving\nthanks abundantly unto the Lord of life for all His grace and\nmercy.\n\n(ll. 1890-1900) Then Abraham and Lot abode in that place, having\nthe fullness of their desires, enjoying bliss, until no longer\ncould they prosper in that land together, with their possessions,\nbut those righteous men must needs seek elsewhere some roomier\ndwelling-place.  For often quarrels rose between the followers of\nthese faithful men, and strife among their shepherds.  Then holy\nAbraham, mindful of honour, spake fairly unto Lot:\n\n(ll. 1900-1919) \"I am thy father's brother in blood kinship, and\nthou my brother's son.  No strife shall rise, no feud grow up,\nbetween us two.  God will not suffer that.  We two are kinsmen;\nnaught else shall there be between us save goodness and enduring\nlove.  Now, Lot, take thought how strong men dwell about our\nborders, mighty tribes with thanes and allies, men of valour, the\ntribe of the Canaanites and the tribe of the Perizzites.  They\nwill not give us of their land!  Therefore let us go forth from\nthis place, and seek out roomier fields.  I give good counsel,\nson of Haran, for us both, and speak the truth.  I give thee\nchoice, my son!  Take thought, and ponder in thy heart on which\nhand thou wilt bend thy course, thou and thy cattle.  The choice\nis thine!\"\n\n(ll. 1920-1944) Then Lot departed to view the green earth and the\nland that lies by Jordan.  And it was watered with rivers, and\ncovered with pleasant fruits, bright with running streams, and\nlike the Paradise of God before our Lord gave over Sodom and\nGomorrah unto fire and black flame, because of the sins of men.\nAnd there the son of Haran chose him a dwelling and a settlement\nin the city of Sodom.  And thither he took from Bethel all his\nsubstance, rings and household treasure and riches and twisted\ngold.  And he abode by Jordan many a year.  The place was fair,\nbut those that dwelt therein were impious and hateful unto God.\nThe race of Sodomites were bold in sin, in deeds perverse,\nworking eternal folly.  Lot would not adopt the customs of that\npeople, but turned him from their practices, their sin and shame,\nthough he must needs dwell in the land.  He kept him pure and\nspotless and of patient heart among that people, mindful of God's\ncommands, most like as if he knew not what that nation did.\n\n(ll. 1945-1959) And Abraham abode thenceforth in the dwellings of\nthe Canaanites.  And the Lord of men, the King of angels, was his\ndefender, granting him his heart's desires and worldly wealth and\nlove and favour.  Wherefore the tribes of men, the children of\nbaptism, exalt his praise full widely under heaven.  He served\nthe Lord with gladness while he lived on earth, holy and wise of\nheart.  Never need any man lack shelter or defence, nor be afraid\nand fearful before God, whoso, in return for His protection, with\ndiscerning heart, with wit and word and understanding, in thought\nand deed will serve Him till his death!\n\n\nXXVIII\n\n(ll. 1960-1972) Then, as I have heard, Chedorlaomer, king of the\nElamires, a bold folk-captain, marshalled an army, and Amraphel\nof Shinar and a mighty host were joined with him.  Four kings\nwith a great multitude departed into the south against Sodom and\nGomorrah.  And all the land about Jordan was overrun with armed\nmen and hostile bands.  Many a trembling maiden, pale with fear,\nmust needs endure a foe's embrace.  Many a warrior perished, sick\nwith wounds, guarding their wives and treasure.\n\n(ll. 1973-1989) Against them from the south five kings went forth\nto war with battle-hosts and marching squadrons.  Fain would they\nguard the city of Sodom against the foe.  Twelve winters long\nthat folk had given toll and tribute to the Northmen, and would\nno more enrich the lord of Elam with their treasure, but they\nrebelled against him.  Onward the hosts advanced, intent on\ndeath.  (Loud sang the javelins.)  Amid the spears the blackbird,\ndewy-feathered, croaked in hope of carrion.  In multitudes, with\nsteadfast hearts, the warriors hastened till the hosts were\ngathered from afar, from south and north, helmeted men.\n\n(ll. 1989-2003) Then was hard hand-play; crashing of weapons,\nstorming of death-darts, tumult of battle.  From out the sheaths\nmen snatched their ring-decked, keen-edged swords.  There might\nan earl have his fill of fighting, whoso was not yet sated with\nwar.  The Northmen smote the people of the south.  In the shock\nof shields the men of Sodom and Gomorrah, dispensers of gold,\nlost many a well-loved comrade.  And they fled away from the\nplace of battle and saved their lives.  Behind them, slain with\nspears and smitten with the swordedge, their well-loved comrades,\nsons of princes, fell in death.\n\n(ll. 2003-2017) And the lord of Elam had the victory, and held\nthe place of battle; and those who escaped the sword fled away to\nseek a stronghold.  The foemen took their gold and sacked their\nsplendid treasure-cities, Sodom and Gomorrah.  Women were torn\nfrom their sheltering homes, widow and maid, bereft of friends.\nAnd the foe led Abraham's kinsman captive out of the city of\nSodom, with all his substance.  But truly may we tell these war\nwolves' fate after the battle, boasting their victory, leading\nLot captive away, and with him the goods of the people and gold\nof the Southmen.\n\n\nXXIX\n\n(ll. 2018-2038) For a certain man who survived the battle and the\nsword came running unto Abraham, the Hebrew prince, and told him\nthe disaster, the fate of Lot, and how the men of Sodom, and\ntheir strength, were sorely smitten.  And Abraham told these\ntidings to his friends; the faithful man besought his well-loved\ncomrades, Aner and Mamre and Eshcol, to bear him aid, saying that\nit was grievous to his heart and greatest of all sorrows, that\nhis brother's son should suffer thraldom.  He bade those valiant\nmen devise a plan to free his kinsman, and his wife with him.\nAnd quickly the three brothers spake, and healed the sorrow of\nhis heart with manful words, and pledged their faith to Abraham\nto aid him, and avenge his wrath upon his foes, or fall in death.\n\n(ll. 2039-2059) Then the holy man bade his hearth-retainers take\ntheir weapons.  Three hundred and eighteen wielders of the ashen\nspear he gathered, loyal-hearted men, of whom he knew that each\nwould stoutly bear his linden shield to battle.  And Abraham went\nout, and the three earls who had pledged their faith, together\nwith a great company of their people.  He would fain redeem his\nkinsman, Lot, from his distress.  Brave were the warriors,\nstoutly bearing their bucklers upon the march.  And when these\nwar-wolves had journeyed nigh unto the camp, the son of Terah,\nwise of heart, bespake his captains (great was his need that they\nshould wage grim war on either flank, and hard hand-play against\nthe foe) and said that easily the Holy, Everlasting Lord could\nspeed their fortunes in the spear-strife.\n\n(ll. 2060-2083) Then, in the shades of night, as I have heard,\nthe warriors dared the battle.  In the camp rose din of shields\nand spears, death of bowmen, crash of battle arrows.  Bitterly\nthe sharp spears pierced the hearts of men.  In throngs their\nfoemen, warriors and comrades, fell in death, where laughing they\nhad borne away the spoil.  And victory and glory of war forsook\nthe strife of the Northmen.  No twisted gold did Abraham offer in\nransom for his brother's son, but battle; he smote and slew the\nfoe in war.  And the Lord of heaven smote in his behalf.  Four\narmies fled, the kings and captains of the folk.  Behind them lay\nthe goodly host of hearth-retainers, cold in death, and in their\ntrack lay those who sacked the homes of Sodom and Gomorrah, and\nbore away the young men and the gold.  Lot's uncle gave them grim\nrequital!  And the lords of the army of Elam, shorn of their\nglory, continued in flight until they came nigh unto Damascus.\n\n(ll. 2083-2095) Then Abraham betook him to the track of their\nretreat, and beheld the flight of the foe.  Lot was redeemed, and\nhis possessions; the women returned with joy.  Far and wide upon\nthe field of slaughter the birds were tearing at the bodies of\nthose foemen of the free.  And Abraham brought the treasure of\nthe Southmen, their wives and children, unto their homes again,\nand maidens to their kinsmen. Never did any man of living men\nwith tiny band go forth more worthily to battle than those who\nrushed against that mighty host.\n\n\nXXX\n\n(ll. 2096-2106) Southward the tidings of battle were borne to the\npeople of Sodom: news of their fierce foes' flight.  The lord of\nthe folk, bereft of earls and desolate of friends, went out unto\nAbraham, to meet him.  And with him journeyed Salem's\ntreasure-warden, Melchizedek the mighty, the bishop of the folk.\nHe came with gifts, gave Abraham fair greeting, the lord of armed\nmen, and blessed him with God's blessing, and said:\n\n(ll. 2107-2120) \"Well hast thou borne thee among men, before His\neyes who gave thee glory in the battle--that is, God the Lord,\nwho brake the power of thy foes, and let thee hew thy way to\nsafety with the sword, regain the spoil, and fell thine enemies.\nThey perished in the track of their retreat.  The marching host\nthrove not in battle, but God put them to flight.  With His hands\nHe shielded thee against the force of greater numbers in the\nbattle because of the holy covenant which thou dost keep with the\nLord of heaven.\"\n\n(ll. 2121-2125) And the prince laid his hand upon him and blessed\nhim, and Abraham gave a tenth part of all the booty unto the\nbishop of God.  Then unto Abraham spake the battle-king, the\nprince of Sodom, bereft of his warriors (he had need of favour):\n\n(ll. 2126-2135) \"Restore me now the maidens of my people whom\nthou hast rescued with thy host from evil bondage.  Keep thou the\ntwisted gold that was my people's, the wealth and treasure.  But\nlet me lead again in freedom to their native land and wasted\ndwellings the children of my people, the women and lads and\nwidows in their affliction.  Our sons are dead and all our\nnobles, save a few only who must guard with me the marches of our\nland.\"\n\n(ll. 2136-2138) And straightway, crowned with valour and victory\nand glory, Abraham made answer before the earls.  Right nobly\nspake he:\n\n(ll. 2139-2160) \"I say to thee, O prince of men, before the Holy\nLord of earth and heaven, there is no worldly treasure I will\ntake, nor scot nor shilling of what I have redeemed for thee\namong the bowmen, great prince and lord of men, lest that thou\nafterward shouldest say that I grew rich with the riches of Sodom\nand its olden treasure.  But thou mayest take hence with thee all\nthat booty which I won for thee in battle, save only the portion\nof these lordly men, of Aner, and of Mamre, and of Eshcol.  I\nwill not willingly deprive these warriors of their right, for\nthey upheld me in the shock of battle and fought to thine\nadvantage.  Depart now, taking home the well-wrought gold, and\nlovely maidens, the daughters of thy people.  Thou needest not to\ndread the onrush of thy foes, or war of the Northmen, but the\nblood-stained birds of prey are resting on the mountain slopes,\ngorged with the slain of their armies.\"\n\n(ll. 2161-2167) Then the king departed to his home with the booty\nwhich the holy Hebrew prince, mindful of honour, had given him.\nAnd the Lord of heaven appeared again unto Abraham, comforting\nthe noble man of heart with holy speech, and said:\n\n(ll. 2168-2172) \"Great shall be thy reward!  Let not thy heart be\nshaken, doing My will.  Thou needest have no whit of dread if\nthou wilt keep My precepts, but I will shield thee with My hands,\nand shelter thee from every evil, so long as thy life endureth.\nBe not afraid.\"\n\n\nXXXI\n\n(ll. 2173-2186) And Abraham, full of years and noble deeds, made\nanswer to his Lord and asked: \"What comfort canst Thou give me,\nLord of spirits, who am thus desolate?  No need have I to heap up\ntreasure for any child of mine, but after me my kinsmen shall\nenjoy my wealth.  Thou grantest me no son, and therefore sorrow\npresseth on my heart.  I can devise no counsel.  My steward goeth\nto and fro rejoicing in his children, and firmly thinketh in his\nheart that after me his sons shall be my heirs.  He seeth that no\nchild is born to me.\"\n\n(ll. 2187-2215) And straightway God made answer unto him: \"Never\nshall son of thy steward inherit thy goods; but thine own son\nshall have thy treasure when thy flesh lieth cold.  Behold the\nheavens!  Number their jewels, the shining stars, that shed their\nwondrous beauty far and wide, and blaze so brightly over the\nspacious sea.  So shall thy tribe be and thy seed for number.\nLet not thy heart be troubled.  Yet shall thy wife conceive and\nbear a son, great in goodness, to be warden of thy wealth, when\nthou art gone.  Be not cast down.  I am the Lord who, many a year\nago, brought thee forth from out the land of the Chaldeans, with\nbut a few, and gave thee this wide realm to rule.  I give thee\nnow My promise, prince of Hebrews, thy seed shall settle many a\nspacious kingdom, the regions of the world from the Egyptian\nborders even unto Euphrates, and where the Nile hems in a mighty\nland and the sea limits it.  All this shall thy sons inhabit;\neach tract and tribal realm and lofty stone-built city,\nwhatsoever those three waters and their foaming floods encircle\nwith their streams.\"\n\n(ll. 2216-2219) Now Sarah's heart was heavy that she bare no\ngoodly son to gladden Abraham; with bitter grief she spake unto\nher husband:\n\n(ll. 2220-2233) \"The Lord of heaven hath denied me to increase\nthy tribe, or bear thee children under heaven.  I have no hope\nthat we shall have a son to stay our house.  My heart is sad.  My\nlord, do now according as I bid thee.  Here is a virgin subject\nunto thee, a comely maid, a daughter of the Egyptian people.  Bid\nher go quickly to thy bed and thou shalt prove if by this woman\nthe Lord will send an heir unto thy house.\"\n\n(ll. 2234-2246) And the blessed man gave ear unto the woman's\ncounsels, and bade his handmaid go unto his bed, according as his\nwife had counselled him.  And the maiden conceived by Abraham,\nand her heart grew arrogant.  She stubbornly began to vex her\nmistress, was insolent, insulting, evil-hearted, and would not\nwillingly be subject to her, but straightway entered into strife\nwith Sarah.  Then, as I have heard, the woman told her sorrow to\nher lord, speaking with bitter grief:\n\n(ll. 2247-2255) \"Thou hast not done me right or justice!  Since\nfirst my handmaid, Hagar, knew thy bed, according as I counselled\nthee, thou sufferest her to vex me day by day in word and deed.\nBut her atonement shall be bitter if I may still rule over my own\nmaid, dear Abraham.  And may Almighty God, the Lord of lords, be\njudge between us.\"\n\n(ll. 2256-2260) And straightway Abraham, wise of heart, made\nanswer: \"Never will I let thee be dishonoured while we two live.\nBut thou shalt deal with thine handmaid even according as it\npleaseth thee.\"\n\n\nXXXII\n\n(ll. 2261-2270) Then was the wife of Abraham hard of heart and\nhostile-minded, ruthless, and merciless against her handmaid, and\nbitterly declared her hate.  And the maiden fled from thraldom\nand oppression, and would not brook punishment or retribution for\nwhat she wrought against Sarah.  But she fled into the wilderness.\nAnd there a thane of glory, an angel of the Lord, found her sad of\nheart and questioned her:\n\n(ll. 2271-2272) \"Whither art thou hastening, unhappy girl,\nhandmaid of Sarah?\"\n\n(ll. 2273-2279) And straightway she answered him: \"Devoid of all\ngood things, in misery, I fled away out of my dwelling, from the\nhate of my lady, from injury and wrong.  Here in the wilderness\nwith tear-stained face I shall abide my doom, when from my heart\ngrim hunger or the wolf shall tear my soul and sorrow.\"\n\n(ll. 2280-2295) And the angel answered her: \"Seek not to flee\naway and leave thy lord, but return again, deserve honour, be of\nhumble heart, constant in virtue, and faithful to thy lord.\nThou, Hagar, shalt bring forth a son to Abraham.  And I say unto\nthee that men shall call him Ishmael.  He shall be terrible, and\nswift to war; his hand shall be against the tribes of men, his\nkinsmen.  Many shall war upon him bitterly.  And from that prince\nshall spring a race and an unnumbered tribe.  Return again to\nseek thy lord, and dwell with them that have thee in possession.\"\n\n(ll. 2296-2305) And she hearkened unto the angel's counsel, and\nreturned again unto her lord, according as the holy messenger of\nGod commanded in words of wisdom.  And Abraham had lived for\nsix-and-eighty winters in the world when Ishmael was born.  And\nthe boy grew strong and throve according as the angel, the\nfaithful minister of peace, had told the maid.  And after\nthirteen years the Lord, Eternal God, said unto Abraham:\n\n(ll. 2306-2325) \"Dearest of men, keep well our covenant as I\nshall show thee, and I will prosper thee and honour thee in every\nseason.  Be swift to work My will.  I will be mindful of the\ncovenant and pledge I gave thee to thy comfort, because thy soul\nwas sad.  Thou shalt sanctify thy household, and set a victor-sign\non every male, if thou wilt have in Me a lord or faithful friend\nunto thy people.  I will be lord and shepherd of this folk if ye\nwill serve Me in your hearts, and keep My laws. And each male child\nthat cometh into the world, among this people, shall be devoted\nunto Me in seven nights' time, by the victor-token, or else cut off\nfrom all the world with persecution, and exiled from all good.\n\n(ll. 2325-2337) \"Do as I bid thee: I will be gracious unto you if\nye will use that token of true faith.  Thy wife shall bear a son,\nand men shall call him Isaac.  Thou shalt not need to shame thee\nfor him, but I will grant him grace divine, by My great might,\nand many a friend.  He shall receive My blessing and My bliss, My\nlove and favour.  From him shall spring a mighty people and many\na valiant leader, rulers of kingdoms, lords of the world,\nrenowned afar.\"\n\n\nXXXIII\n\n(ll. 2338-2347) Then Abraham laid his face upon the ground and\npondered these sayings in his heart with scorn.  For he deemed\nthat never the day would come when Sarah, his greyhaired wife,\nwould bear a son.  Full well he knew that she had lived an\nhundred winters in the world.  And full of years he spake unto\nthe Lord:\n\n(ll. 2348-2352) \"May Ishmael live according to Thy laws, O Lord,\nand render Thee a thankful and a steadfast spirit, an earnest\nheart to do Thy will, by night and day, in word and deed.\"\n\n(ll. 2353-2354) And graciously Eternal God, Almighty Lord, made\nanswer:\n\n(ll. 2355-2369) \"Yet shall Sarah bear a son, though old in\nwinters, and fate shall be fulfilled according to My word.  I\nwill bless Ishmael, thy firstborn, with My blessing as thou dost\nask, that his days may be long in the land, and his race may\nmultiply.  This will I grant thee.  So also will I prosper Isaac,\nthy younger son, who is not yet born, with every good and\npleasant thing all the days of his life.  And I will surely keep\nMy covenant with him and holy faith, and show him favour.\"\n\n(ll. 2370-2381) And Abraham did even as Eternal God commanded,\nand, in accordance with his Lord's behest, he set the sign of the\ncovenant upon his son, and bade his bondmen also bear that holy\ntoken.  He was wise of heart, and mindful of the covenant and\npledge which God had given him, and he himself received the\nglorious sign.  God, the Mighty King, increased his glory in the\nworld.  And he strove in all his ways to work the will of his\nLord....\n\n((LACUNA--One leaf missing))\n\n(ll. 2382-2389) But the woman laughed at the Lord of hosts with\nderision; full of years, she pondered those sayings in her heart\nwith scorn.  She had no faith that His words would be fulfilled.\nAnd when the Lord of heaven heard that in her bower the wife of\nAbraham laughed in unbelief, then spake the Holy God:\n\n(ll. 2390-2398) \"Lo!  Sarah trusteth not My word.  Yet all shall\nbe fulfilled according as I promised thee in the beginning.  I\ntell thee truly, at this self-same season thy wife shall bear a\nson.  And when I come again unto this dwelling My word shall be\nfulfilled, and thine eyes shall behold thy son, dear Abraham.\"\n\n\nXXXIV\n\n(ll. 2399-2407) And alter these words they departed swiftly away\nfrom the place of oracle.  The holy spirits turned their steps\n(and the Prince of light was their companion) till they beheld\nhigh Sodom's city-walls.  They saw high halls towering above\nprecious treasure and mansions above ruddy gold.  And the\nRighteous Lord of heaven held long discourse with Abraham:\n\n(ll. 2408-2418) \"I hear loud tumult in this city and brawling of\nsinful men, the boastful words of tipplers drunk with ale, and\nevil speech of multitudes within their walls.  Heavy are the sins\nof this people and the offences of these faithless men.  But I\nwill search out what this people do, O Hebrew prince, and whether\nthey sin so greatly in their thoughts and deeds as their evil\ntongues speak fraud and guile.  Verily brimstone and black flame,\nbitter and grim and fiercely burning, shall visit vengeance on\nthese heathen folk....\"\n\n((LACUNA--One leaf missing.))\n\n\nXXXV\n\n(ll. 2419-2437) And so these men abode their punishment and woe\nwithin their walls, and their wives with them.  Proud in their\nstrength, they repaid God evil for good until the Lord of\nspirits, Prince of life and light, could no longer withhold His\nwrath.  Stern of heart, God sent two mighty messengers among them\nwho came at even-tide unto the city of Sodom.  They came upon a\nman sitting in the gate of the city, even the son of Haran, and\nthey appeared as young men before the eyes of the sage.  Then the\nservant of the Lord arose and went unto the strangers, and\ngreeted them with kindness; he was mindful of what is right and\nfitting among men, and offered them a shelter for the night.  And\nthe noble messengers of God made answer:\n\n(ll. 2438-2440) \"We thank thee for the favour thou hast showed\nus.  Yet do we think to bide here quietly beside this street\nuntil the time of the dawn, when God shall send again the sun.\"\n\n(ll. 2441-2453) Then Lot fell at their feet, and knelt upon the\nground before his guests, and offered them food and rest, the\nshelter of his house, and entertainment.  And they accepted the\nkindness of the prince with thanks, and went in quickly with him\nunto his dwelling as the Hebrew earl pointed them the way.  And\nthe lordly hero, wise of heart, gave them fair entertainment in\nhis hall, until the evening light vanished away.  Then night\ncame, hard upon the heels of day, and clothed the ocean-streams\nwith darkness, and all the glory of the world, seas and\nwide-stretching land.\n\n(ll. 2453-2466) Then in great throngs the dwellers of Sodom,\nyoung and old, undear to God, came to demand the strangers, in\nmultitudes encompassed Lot about, and his guests.  They bade him\nlead the holy heralds out from the lofty hall into their power.\nShamelessly they said that they would know these men.  Of decency\nthey had no heed.  Then swiftly Lot arose, deviser of counsel,\nand went forth from his dwelling; the son of Haran, mindful of\nwisdom, spake unto all that gathering of men:\n\n(ll. 2467-2476) \"Within my house two stainless daughters dwell.\n(Neither of them yet has known a man.)  Do now as I bid you and\nforsake this sin.  Them will I give you rather than that ye work\nthis shame against your nature, and grievous evil against the\nsons of men.  Take now the maidens and leave my guests in peace,\nfor I will defend them against you before God, if so I may.\"\n\n(ll. 2477-2484) And all that multitude of godless men with one\naccord made answer unto him: \"This seemeth meet and very right:\nthat thou leave this land!  An exile, from afar thou camest to\nthis country, desolate of friends, and lacking food.  And now\nwilt thou be judge over us, if so may be, and teach our people?\"\n\n(ll. 2485-2499) Then, as I have heard, the heathen leaders laid\nhand on Lot and seized him.  But his guests, the righteous\nstrangers, brought him aid, and drew him within his dwelling from\nout the clutches of these cruel men.  And straightway the eyes of\nall those standing round about were darkened; and suddenly the\nhost of city-dwellers became blind.  They might not storm the\nhalls, with savage hearts against the strangers, as they strove\nto do, but stoutly the ministers of God withstood them.  Lot's\nguests had sturdy strength, and smote the host with vengeance.\nFairly the faithful ministers of peace spake unto Lot:\n\n(ll. 2500-2512) \"If thou have any son, or kinsman dear among this\npeople, or any friend of these maidens whom we here behold, lead\nforth in haste from the city those dear to thee, and save thy\nlife, lest thou too perish with these faithless men.  Because of\nthe sins of Sodom and Gomorrah the Lord hath bidden give them\nover to fire and black flame, to smite the people in their\ndwellings with the pangs of death, and work His vengeance.  The\nhour is nigh at hand.  Flee upon the paths of earth, and save thy\nlife.  To thee the Lord is gracious....\"\n\n((LACUNA--One leaf missing.))\n\n\nXXXVI\n\n(ll. 2513-2526) And straightway Lot made answer unto them: \"I may\nnot wander so far hence, afoot, in search of safety, with these\nwomen.  But ye may fairly show me love and friendship, and grant\nme grace and favour.  I know a little high-built town not far\nfrom here; there grant me rest and respite, in Zoar to find\nsafety.  If ye will shield that lofty stronghold from the flame,\nwe may abide there for a time secure, and save our lives.\"\n\n(ll. 2526-2534) And friendly was the righteous angels' answer:\n\"Thou shalt receive this boon, since thou hast spoken of the\ncity.  Go quickly to that stronghold, and we will grant thee\npeace and our protection.  We will not wreak God's vengeance on\nthese faithless men, nor slay this sinful race, till thou hast\nbrought thy children unto Zoar, and thy wife with them.\"\n\n(ll. 2535-2547) Then Abraham's kinsman hastened to the\nstronghold.  He swiftly journeyed with his women, and stayed not\nfoot until he led his children into Zoar, under the city-gates,\nand his wife with them.  And when the sun arose, peace-candle of\nmen, then, as I have heard, the Lord of glory sent brimstone out\nof heaven, black fire and raging flame, in vengeance upon men,\nbecause so long in days gone by they had displeased the Lord.\nThe Ruler of spirits gave them their reward!\n\n(ll. 2547-2561) And a great fear gripped the heathen race; din\narose in their cities, wailing of sinful men, a wretched people\nat the point of death.  All that was green in the golden cities\nthe flame devoured; likewise no little portion of the wide land\nround about was covered with flame and terror.  Fair groves and\nfruits of the earth were turned to ash and glowing ember, even as\nfar as that grim vengeance swept the broad land of men.  A\nroaring flame, destroying all things high and spacious, consumed\nthe wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah.  All this the Lord God\ndestroyed, and the people with it.\n\n(ll. 2561-2575) But when Lot's wife heard the rushing flame, and\ndying men within the city, she looked behind her to that place of\ndeath.  Straightway, the writings tell us, she was changed into\nthe likeness of a pillar of salt; and ever since, the image\n(far-famed is the story) has stood in silence where that bitter\nvengeance came upon her, because she would not heed the bidding\nof the thanes of glory.  Hard and high-towering in that spot of\nearth she must abide her fate, the doom of God, till time shall\ncease and the world vanish away.  That is a wonder which the Lord\nof glory wrought!\n\n\nXXXVII\n\n(ll. 2576-2599) And Abraham, the man of wisdom, went out alone at\ndawn and came again unto the place where he had spoken with his\nLord.  Far and wide he saw the fatal smoke curling upward from\nthe earth.  Pride had come upon that people and drunkenness, and\nthey became too insolent in evil and bold in sin.  God's\njudgements they forgot, and truth, and Him who gave them wealth\nand blessing in their cities.  Wherefore the Prince of angels\nsent a consuming flame in punishment upon them.  But our Faithful\nLord was gracious, and remembered Abraham, His beloved, as oft He\ndid, and delivered Lot, his kinsman, when the multitude were\nslain.  Now Lot, the valiant, durst no longer dwell in that\nstronghold for fear of God, but he departed out of the city, and\nhis children with him, to seek a dwelling far from the place of\nslaughter, and found, at last, a cave upon the slope of a high\nhill.  And Lot, the blessed, dear unto God and faithful, abode\nthere many a day, and his two daughters with him....\n\n((LACUNA--One leaf missing.))\n\n(ll. 2600-2620) Thus did they, and the elder daughter went in\nfirst unto their father's bed, as he lay drunk with wine.  And\nthe old man knew not when the maidens came unto his bed, but his\nmind and wit were clouded within him, and, drunk with wine, he\nknew not the coming of the maids.  And the lovely sisters\nconceived, and bare sons unto their aged father.  Lot's older\ndaughter called her son's name Moab.  And the younger called her\nson's name Ammon, as the sacred writings say.  Of these princes\nsprang a countless folk, two famous peoples.  One tribe men call\nthe Moabites, a far-famed race; the other tribe men call the\nAmmonites.\n\n\nXXXVIII\n\n(ll. 2621-2627) Then the brother of Haran departed with his wife\nand household and with all his substance to be subject unto\nAbimelech.  And Abraham said unto men, of Sarah, his wife, \"She\nis my sister,\" and thereby saved his life.  For well he knew he\nhad few friends or kinsfolk among that people.  And the prince\nsent forth his thanes and bade them bring him Abraham's wife.\n\n(ll. 2628-2637) Then a second time, while dwelling among alien\npeople, Abraham's wife was taken from her husband, and given into\na stranger's arms.  But the Eternal Lord sustained them as He oft\nhad done.  Our Saviour came at night unto the king as he lay\ndrunk with wine.  The King of truth spake unto the prince in a\ndream, and in anger denounced him:\n\n(ll. 2638-2641) \"The wife of Abraham hast thou taken from him,\nand for this deed of evil death shall smite thy soul within thy\nbreast.\"\n\n(ll. 2641-2652) And, heavy with feasting, the lord of sin began\nto speak in his slumber: \"O Prince of angels, wilt Thou ever, in\nThine anger, suffer a life to fail which liveth with righteous\nways and upright heart, and seeketh mercy at Thy hands?  I\nquestioned not the woman, but she said that she was Abraham's\nsister.  And I have wrought no evil against her, nor any sin.\"\n\n(ll. 2653-2666) Then again a second time the Righteous Lord,\nEternal God, spake unto him in his dream, and said: \"O prince of\nmen, if thou reck aught of longer living in the world, restore\nthis woman unto Abraham to be his wife.  He is wise and\nrighteous, and may behold the King of glory and speak with Him.\nBut thou shalt perish with thy goods and treasure, if thou\nwithhold this woman from the prince.  But if that just and\npatient man will intercede for thee, he may prevail with Me to\nlet thee live unharmed, enjoying blessings, friends, and treasure\nall the days of thy life.\"\n\n(ll. 2666-2674) Then in fear the warden of the people awoke from\nhis slumber, and bade summon his counsellors.  Smitten with\ntenor, Abimelech told them the words of God.  And they feared\nGod's vengeance on that deed, according to the dream.  Then the\nking in haste called Abraham before him.  The mighty prince said\nunto him:\n\n(ll. 2675-2690) \"Tell me now what evil I have done thee, Hebrew\nprince, since first thou camest to our land with thy possessions,\nthat now so fiercely thou shouldest lay a snare before me.  Lo,\nAbraham!  a stranger to this people, thou wouldest entrap us, and\ndefile with sin.  Thou saidest Sarah was thy sister and thy kin!\nThrough her thou wouldest have done me grievous hurt and endless\nevil.  We harboured thee with honour, in friendly wise allotting\nthee a dwelling in this realm, and lands for thine enjoyment.\nBut in no friendly way dost thou reward or thank us for our\nfavours.\"\n\n\nXXXIX\n\n(ll. 2691-2716) And Abraham answered: \"I did it not in guile or\nhatred, nor yet to work thee any woe.  But I was far from mine\nown people, prince of men, and shielded me by craft from,\nviolence and death.  Since Holy God first led me forth of old\nfrom the home of my lord and father, desolate of friends, I have\nvisited many a people, many an alien race, and this woman with\nme.  And ever this fear was in my heart, seeing I was a stranger,\nlest some foe should slay me, and take this woman to himself.\nWherefore I said that Sarah was my sister, and this I told the\nwar-smiths everywhere on earth where we two homeless needs must\ndwell with strangers.  And so I did in this land also, mighty\nprince, when I came under thy protection.  I knew not if the fear\nof God Almighty was among this people, when first I came here.\nTherefore, with care, I hid from thee and from thy thanes the\ntruth, that Sarah was my wife and shared my bed.\"\n\n(ll. 2717-2722) Then Abimelech began to endow Abraham with\ntreasure, and gave him his wife again; and because he had taken\nhis wife he gave him, to boot, wandering herds and servants and\ngleaming silver.  And the lord of men said also unto Abraham:\n\n(ll. 2723-2726) \"Abide with us and choose thee a dwelling in this\nland, and an abode whereso it pleaseth thee; thee must I keep.\nBe thou a faithful friend, and we will give thee riches.\"\n\n(ll. 2727-2735) And the dispenser of treasure spake also unto\nSarah, and said: \"No need hath Abraham, thy lord, to reproach\nthee, O maiden of elfin beauty, because thou hast trod my halls.\nWith gleaming silver will I make requital for this wrong.  Care\nnot to go forth from this folk-land, seeking elsewhere unknown\nfriends, but dwell ye here.\"\n\n(ll. 2736-2741) And Abraham did according to the bidding of the\nprince, accepting the friendship offered by his lord, with love\nand favour.  Dear was he unto God; knowing great blessedness and\npeace, and walking in his Lord's protection and under the shelter\nof His wings, so long as his life endured.\n\n(ll. 2742-2759) Yet was God still angered against Abimelech for\nthe wrong he had wrought against Sarah and against Abraham, in\nsevering the bonds of these beloved, man and wife.  He suffered\nwoe and bitter punishment; the maidens, slave nor free, might not\nbear children to their lords, but God denied them, till holy\nAbraham prayed his Lord, Eternal God, for mercy.  And the Lord of\nangels granted him his prayer, and for the king restored\nfertility to man and maid, to slave and free.  The Lord of heaven\nsuffered again their number to increase, their riches and\npossessions; and the Almighty Warden of mankind was merciful of\nheart unto Abimelech, as Abraham besought Him.\n\n(ll. 2760-2771) Then the Almighty Lord came unto Sarah, according\nto His word; our God, the Lord of life, fulfilled His promise to\nHis dear ones, the man and woman.  His wife brought forth a son\nto Abraham, and, ere his mother had conceived him, the Prince of\nangels called him Isaac.  And Abraham with his own hand set the\nglorious sign upon him within the week his mother bare him.\n\n\nXL\n\n(ll. 2772-2777) And the boy grew strong and throve and his nature\nwas noble.  Now Abraham had lived an hundred winters in the world\nwhen his wife, with thankful heart, brought forth a son.  And he\nhad waited long for that event since first the Lord, by His own\nword, announced the day of joy.\n\n(ll. 2778-2783) And it came to pass upon a time that the woman\nsaw Ishmael playing before Abraham as they sat with holy hearts\nat meat together, and all their household drank and revelled.\nThen said his wife, the noble woman, to her lord:\n\n(ll. 2783-2791) \"Beloved lord, and warden of treasure, grant me a\nboon!  Bid Hagar go forth from among us, and Ishmael with her.\nNo longer shall we dwell together, if I may rule and have my\nwill.  Never shall Ishmael, after thee, divide the heritage with\nIsaac, my son, when thou hast given up the ghost from out thy\nbody.\"\n\n(ll. 2791-2796) Then it grieved Abraham in his heart that he must\ndrive his own son into exile; but God, the Just and Righteous,\nsuccoured him.  He knew that the heart of the man was heavy with\nsorrow.  The King of angels, the Eternal Lord, said unto Abraham:\n\n(ll. 2797-2803) \"Let care and sorrow vanish from thy heart, and\nhearken unto the woman, thy wife.  Bid Hagar go forth from this\nland, and Ishmael, the lad, with her.  And I will multiply his\nrace, and stablish them with ample blessings, as I have promised\nby My word.\"\n\n(ll. 2804-2806) And the man hearkened unto his Lord, and drove\nthem forth in sadness from his dwelling, the woman and his\nson....\n\n((LACUNA--One leaf missing.))\n\n(ll. 2807-2831) \"Clear is it that the Just God, Lord of heaven,\nis with thee, granting thee triumph by His might and wisdom, and\nstrengthening thy heart with grace divine.  Therefore ye throve\nin all your dealings, with friend or foe, in word or deed.  With\nHis hands the Lord God prospered thee in all thy ways.  That is\nfull widely known unto the city-dwellers!  Graciously grant me\nnow, I pray thee, Hebrew prince, thy promise and thy pledge, that\nthou wilt be a faithful friend to me, according to the kindness I\nhave done thee since, wretched and in exile, thou camest from\nafar unto this land.  Requite it now with kindness that I grudged\nthee not of land or favour.  Be gracious to this nation, my\npeople, if the Lord our God, who ruleth the fates of men, will\ngrant thee to extend the borders of this people, dealing out\nwealth to warriors of the shield, and treasure to the brave.\"\n\n(ll. 2832-2833) And Abraham gave a pledge unto Abimelech that he\nwould do according to his prayer.\n\n\nXLI\n\n(ll. 2834-2845) And the Hebrew prince, the blessed son of Terah,\nabode a long time in the land of the Philistines, wretched and in\nexile.  And the Lord of angels assigned him a dwelling-place, and\nthe city-dwelling sons of men call that land Beersheba.  There\nthe holy man built a lofty city wherein to dwell, and planted a\ngrove and raised an altar, and on the altar made ample offerings\nand sacrifice to God, who granted him life and blessing under\nheaven.\n\n(ll. 2846-2849) Then the Mighty Lord made a trial of the prince,\nand proved his strength, and sternly spake unto him, saying:\n\n(ll. 2850-2859) \"Abraham!  Betake thee quickly on a journey, and\nwith thee lead thine only son.  Thou shalt offer thy son Isaac\nunto Me in sacrifice.  When thou hast mounted the steep downs and\nthe slope of the high land which I will show thee, there shalt\nthou build an altar, and kindle a flame, slay thy son with the\nsword, and burn his body with black flame, and offer it a\nsacrifice to Me.\"\n\n(ll. 2860-2877) He delayed not the journey, but swiftly made him\nready.  For the word of the Lord of angels was terrible to him,\nand his Lord was dear.  The blessed Abraham rested not nor slept\nnor spurned his Lord's behest, but the holy man girded him with a\ngrey sword, and showed that fear of the Lord of spirits abode in\nhis heart.  The aged dispenser of gold began to saddle his asses,\nand bade two young men journey with him; his son was the third,\nand he the fourth.  And he went out from his house with Isaac,\nthe lad, according as God commanded.  He went with speed and\nhastened on the paths of earth, according as the Lord marked out\nthe way across the waste, until, in gleaming glory, the dawn of\nthe third day arose over the deep water.\n\n(ll. 2877-2880) Then the blessed man beheld the high hills\ntowering up, as the Lord of heaven had told him.  And Abraham\nsaid unto his servants:\n\n(ll. 2881-2884) \"Abide ye here in this place, and we two will\ncome again, when we have worshipped God.\"\n\n(ll. 2885-2889) And the prince and his son departed across the\nweald to the place which the Lord had showed him; the lad carried\nwood, and the father bare fire and sword.  And the lad, young in\nwinters, spake unto Abraham and said:\n\n(ll. 2890-2892) \"Here have we fire and sword, my lord!  But where\nis the fair burnt-offering thou thinkest to sacrifice to God?\"\n\n(ll. 2893-2896) And Abraham answered (firm was his resolve to do\nas God had bidden): \"That will the Righteous Lord, the Warden of\nmankind, provide as seemeth right to Him.\"\n\n(ll. 2897-2908) Stout of heart he mounted the high downs, and his\nson with him, according as Eternal God commanded, until he stood\nupon the ridge of the high land in the place which the Firm and\nFaithful Lord had showed him.  And there he built a pyre and\nkindled a flame and bound his son, hand and foot, and laid Isaac,\nthe lad, on the altar, and seized his sword by the hilt.  With\nhis own hand he would have slain him, and quenched the flame with\nthe blood of his son.\n\n(ll. 2908-2913) Then a thane of God, an angel from on high,\ncalled unto Abraham with a loud voice.  In stillness he abode the\nherald's message and answered the angel.  Swiftly the glorious\nminister of God addressed him from the heavens:\n\n(ll. 2914-2922) \"Slay not thy son, dear Abraham, but take the lad\nfrom the altar alive.  The God of glory is gracious unto him!\nGreat shall thy reward be, Hebrew prince, true meed of victory\nand ample gifts, at the holy hands of the Heavenly King.  The\nLord of spirits will bless thee with His blessing because His\nlove and favour were dearer unto thee than thine own son.\"\n\n(ll. 2923-2936) The altar-fire stood kindled.  The Lord of men\nhad gladdened the heart of Abraham, kinsman of Lot, when He\nrestored to him his son, alive.  And the blessed man, brother of\nHaran, looked over his shoulder and beheld a ram standing not far\noff, caught fast in the brambles.  And Abraham took it, and laid\nit upon the altar in the stead of his son, and drawing his sword\nmade ready an offering and an altar smoking with the blood of the\nram, and sacrificed that offering to God, and gave Him thanks for\nall the loving kindness which the Lord had showed him, early and\nlate.\n\n\n\nEXODUS\n\n\nXLII\n\n(ll. 1-7) Lo! far and wide throughout the earth we have heard\nhow the laws of Moses, a wondrous code, proclaim to men reward of\nheavenly life for all the blessed after death, and lasting gain\nfor every living soul.  Let him hear who will!\n\n(ll. 8-22) On him the Lord of hosts, the Righteous King, showed\nhonour in the wilderness, and the Eternal Ruler gave him might to\nwork great wonders.  He was beloved of God, a lord of men, a wise\nand ready leader of the host, a bold folk-captain.  Affliction\ncame upon the tribe of Pharaoh, the enemy of God, when the Lord\nof victories entrusted to the bold folk-leader his kinsmen's\nlives, and gave the sons of Abraham a dwelling and an habitation.\nGreat was his reward!  The Lord was gracious unto him and gave\nhim weapon-might against the terror of his foes, wherewith he\novercame in battle many a warrior, and the strength of hostile\nmen.\n\n(ll. 22-34) And first the Lord of hosts spake unto him and told\nhim many wonders, how the Triumphant Lord in wisdom wrought the\nworld, and the compass of the earth, and the arching heavens; and\ntold His own name, which the sons of men, wise patriarchs of old,\nknew not before, though they knew many things.  And the Lord\nhonoured the leader of the host, the foe of Pharaoh, and\nstrengthened him with righteous strength on his departure, when,\nof old, in punishment that mighty host was drenched with death.\n\n(ll. 35-53) Wailing arose at the fall of their princes; their\nhall-joys were hushed and their treasure was scattered.  Fiercely\nat midnight He smote the oppressors, slaying their firstborn,\nlaying their watchmen low.  Wide the destroyer's path, and the\nway of the fell folk-slayer!  The whole land mourned the dead.\nThe host departed.  Loud was the voice of their wailing, little\ntheir joy!  Locked were the hands of the laughter-makers; the\nmultitude had leave to go its way, a wandering folk.  The Fiend\nwas robbed and all the hosts of hell.  Heaven's might came upon\nthem; their idols fell.  That was a glorious day through all the\nworld when the host went forth!  Many a year the vile Egyptians\nsuffered bondage, because they thought for ever to refuse to\nMoses' kinsmen, if God would let them, their longing for the\njourney of their heart's desire.\n\n(ll. 54-62) The host was ready.  The prince who led them was\nstalwart and bold.  He passed by many a stronghold with his\npeople, leaders and lands of many hostile men, by narrow, lonely\npaths and unknown ways, until at last they marched, in armour,\nagainst the Ethiopian realm.  Their lands were covered with a\ncloud, their border-homes upon the mountain-slopes.  Past these,\nwith many a hindrance, Moses led his people.\n\n\nXLIII\n\n(ll. 63-67) And two nights after they escaped their foes God bade\nthe noble prince to make encampment about the town of Etham in\nthe marchlands, with all his force, a mighty army, and tumult of\nthe host.\n\n(ll. 68-88) With anxious hearts they hastened on their northward\nway; they knew that southward lay the Ethiop's land, parched\nhill-slopes and a race burned brown by the heat of the sun.  But\nHoly God shielded that folk against the fiery heat, stretching a\ncovering over the flaming heavens, and over the burning air a\nholy veil.  A cloud widestretching severed earth from heaven, and\nled the host; burning and heavenly bright the fiery flame was\nquenched.  The warriors marvelled, most joyous of hosts.  The\nshelter of the day-shield moved across the heavens; God in His\nwisdom had covered the course of the sun with a sail, though\nearth-dwelling men knew not the mast-ropes, nor might behold the\nyards, nor understand the way in which that greatest of tents was\nfastened.  So He showed honour and glory upon the faithful!\n\n(ll. 88-97) Then was a third encampment to the comfort of the\nfolk.  The army all beheld the holy sail, the gleaming marvel of\nthe sky, towering above them.  And all that folk, the men of\nIsrael, perceived that there the Lord of hosts was present to\nmeasure out a camp.  Before them moved two columns in the\nheavens, fire and cloud, sharing alike the service of the Holy\nSpirit, the journey of brave-hearted men, by day and night.\n\n(ll. 98-106) And in the dawn, as I have heard, the valiant-hearted\nblared forth their trumpetcalls, in peals of thunder.  And all the\nhost, the band of the brave, arose and made them ready, according\nas Moses, their glorious leader, gave bidding to God's people.\nThey beheld their guide go forth before them measuring out the path\nof life.  The sail governed their journey, and after it, with joyful\nhearts, the seamen trod their path through the great waters.  Loud\nwas the tumult of the host.\n\n\nLXIV\n\n(ll. 106-134) Each evening rose a heavenly beacon, a second\nwondrous marvel after the setting of the sun, a pillar of flame\nshining in splendour over the hosts of men.  Bright were its\nshining beams above the warriors; their bucklers gleamed, the\nshadows vanished away.  No secret place could hide the deep\nnight-shadows.  Heaven's candle burned.  Needs must this new\nnight warden watch above the host, lest in the stormy weather\ngrey heath and desert-terror should overcome their souls with\nsudden fear.  Streaming locks of fire had their guide, and\nshining beams, menacing the host with flame and terror, and\nthreatening destruction to that people in the waste, except they\nswiftly hearkened unto Moses.  Armour gleamed, and bucklers\nglistened as the warriors took their steadfast way.  And over the\ntroops and high above the host stood the banner, moving as they\nmoved, even unto the stronghold of the sea at the land's end.\nAnd there they pitched a camp and rested, for they were weary.\nStewards brought the warriors food and strengthened them.  And\nwhen the trumpet sang they stretched themselves upon the hills,\nshipmen within their tents.  That was the fourth encampment and\npause of the shield-men by the Red Sea.\n\n(ll. 135-141) There dread tidings of inland pursuit came unto the\narmy.  A great fear fell upon them, and dread of the host.  So\nthe exiles abode the coming of the fierce pursuers, who long had\ncrushed those homeless men and wrought them injury and woe.  They\nheeded not the covenant which the ancient king had given\naforetime....\n\n((LACUNA--Two leaves missing.))\n\n\nXLV\n\n(ll. 142-153) ....who became the people's heir and had their\ntreasure, and greatly throve.  All this the Egyptian race forgot\nwhen their wrath was stirred by a quarrel.  They wrought great\nwrong to Moses' kinsmen, broke the covenant, and slew them.\nTheir hearts were filled with faithlessness and rage, the mighty\npassions of men.  They would fain requite the gift of life with\nevil, that the people of Moses might pay for that day's work in\nblood, if almighty God would prosper their destructive journey.\n\n(ll. 154-169) Then the hearts of the earls were hopeless within\nthem as they beheld the shining bands, the hosts of Pharaoh,\nmarching from out the south, uplifting a forest of lances, with\nbanners waving above them, a great host treading the border-paths.\nTheir spears were in array, shields gleamed and trumpets sang; the\nbattle line rolled on.  Over dead bodies circling screamed the birds\nof battle, dewy-leathered, greedy for war, dark carrion lovers.  In\nhope of food, the wolves, remorseless beasts of slaughter, sang a\ngrim eveningsong; dogging the march of the foe, they abode the\ncoming of death; the march warders howled in the midnight.  The\ndoomed soul fled; the host was compassed about.\n\n(ll. 170-199) Now and again the proud thanes of the host measured\nthe mile-paths on their steeds.  The prince of men rode forth\nbefore the troops, the war-king raised the standard; the\nbattle-warden bound on helm and chinguard (banners gleamed) in\nexpectation of war, shook his armour, and bade his warlike host,\nhis firm-ranked cohorts, go boldly into battle.  The foe beheld\nwith hostile eyes the coming of the landsmen.  About him fearless\nfighters moved; grey wolves of war went forward to the onslaught\nthirsting for battle, loyal of heart.  He chose the flower of his\npeople for that service, two thousand far-famed heroes of high\nbirth, kings and kinsmen.  And each led out his men, and all the\nwarriors that he well could muster in the appointed time.  The\nyoung men were gathered together, the kings in their pomp.\nFrequently sounding, the well-known voice of the horn signalled\nthe host where the war-troop of heroes should bear their arms.\nSo the dark horde was marshalled; throng after throng, in\nthousands, hasted thither, a countless host.  They were resolved,\nin vengeance for their brothers, to slay the tribes of Israel\nwith the sword, at the break of day.\n\n(ll. 200-208) Then a sound of wailing arose in the camp, an\nevening-song of woe.  A great fear was upon them; the nets of\ndeath encompassed them about.  The fatal tidings flew abroad;\ntumult arose.  The foe were resolute, a horde in armour gleaming,\nuntil the mighty angel who upheld that host scattered the proud\nand hateful multitude, so that no more might one behold another's\nface; but their journey was divided.\n\n(ll. 209-220) All that long night the fugitives had respite,\nthough foes beset them upon either hand, on the one side that\ngreat host, on the other side the sea.  They had no way of escape\nnor any hope of their inheritance, but halted on the hills in\nshining armour with foreboding of ill.  And all the band of\nkinsmen watched and waited for the coming of the greater host\nuntil the dawn, when Moses bade the earls with brazen trumpets\nmuster the folk, bade warriors rise and don their coats of mail,\nbear shining arms, take thought on valour, and summon the\nmultitude with signal-beacons unto the sandy shore of the sea.\n\n(ll. 220-232) The leaders bold obeyed the battle-signal; the host\nmade ready.  The seamen heard the trumpet-summons, and struck\ntheir tents upon the hills.  The army was astir.  They numbered\noff twelve companies of valiant men to form the van of battle\nagainst their foes' grim wrath.  The host was in an uproar.  From\nevery noble tribe among that people were chosen fifty cohorts,\nunder shield, the flower of the folk.  And every cohort of that\nfamous army was of a thousand warriors, far-famed wielders of the\nspear.\n\n(ll. 232-251) That was a warlike band.  The leaders of the army\nwelcomed not among that number the weak, who yet because of youth\ncould not defend them under board and byrnie against a wily foe,\nwho never yet had known the baleful thrust, the bitter wound, the\ninsolent play of the spear over the edge of the linden shield.\nNor might the aged, grey-haired warriors be of service in the\nbattle if their strength had failed them.  But according to their\nstrength they joined the fray, even according as their valour\nwould endure with honour among men, and their strength suffice to\nundergo the spearstrife.  The army of these sturdy men was\nmustered, and ready to advance.  Their banner rose on high, a\ngleaming column, and all abode there nigh unto the sea until\ntheir guiding beacon pierced the clouds, and shone upon their\nlinden shields.\n\n\nXLVI\n\n(ll. 252-258) Then a herald rose before the warriors, a valiant\nleader, and, lifting up his shield, he bade the captains of the\nhost make silence, that all the multitude might hear the words of\ntheir brave lord.  The shepherd of the kingdom fain would speak\nwith holy voice unto his legions.  The leader of the host in\nwords of worth addressed them:\n\n(ll. 259-275) \"Be not afraid though Pharaoh leadeth hither this\nmighty host of sword-men, a multitude of earls.  Upon them all\nthis day Almighty God will give requital by my hand, that they\nmay live no longer to vex the tribes of Israel with woe.  Ye\nshall not dread doomed armies and dead men.  Their fleeting life\nhath run unto the end.  The knowledge of God hath vanished from\nyour hearts.  I give you better counsel, to serve the God of\nglory, and pray the Lord of life for victory and grace and\nsafety, wherever ye may journey.  He is the Eternal God of\nAbraham, Creation's Lord, magnanimous and mighty, who with His\nstrong hand guardeth all this host.\"\n\n(ll. 276-298) Then the lord of men spake with a loud voice before\nthe multitude and said: \"Look now, dearest of people, with your\neyes and behold a marvel!  In my right hand grasping this green\nrod I smote the ocean depths.  The waves rise up; the waters form\na rampartwall.  The sea is thrust aside.  The ways are dry: grey\narmy-roads, ancient foundations (never have I heard in all the\nworld that men before set foot thereon), shining plains,\nimprisoned deep sea-bottoms over which of old the great waves\nfoamed.  The south wind, breath of the ocean, hath driven them\nback.  The sea is cleft asunder; the ebbing waters spewed up\nsand.  Well I know Almighty God hath showed you mercy, ye\nbronze-clad earls.  Most haste is best now, that ye may escape\nthe clutch of foes since God hath reared a rampart of the red\nseastreams.  These walls are fairly builded to the roof of\nheaven, a wondrous wave-road.\"\n\n(ll. 299-309) And after these words the multitude arose, the host\nof the valiant.  The sea lay tranquil.  Upon the sand the legions\nraised their standards and shining linden shields.  And over\nagainst the Israelites the wall of water stood firm and upright\nfor the space of one whole day.  Of one mind was that company of\nearls.  The wall of water shielded them with sure defence.  In no\nwise did they scorn their holy leader's counsels as the time for\ndeeds drew near, when the words of their well-loved lord were\nended, and the voice of his eloquence was still.\n\n(ll. 310-318) The fourth tribe led the way, a throng of warriors,\nmarching through the sea upon the green sea-bottom.  The tribe of\nJudah trod that unknown road alone, before their kinsmen, and God\nAlmighty gave them great reward for that day's work, granting\nthem glory of triumphant deeds, that they might have dominion\nover kingdoms and sway their kinsmen.\n\n\nXLVII\n\n(ll. 319-330) As they descended on the oceanbottom that mighty\ntribe had lifted up their standard mid the spear-host, high above\ntheir shields their battle ensign, a golden lion, bravest of\nbeasts.  Not long would they endure oppression by the lord of any\npeople while they might live and lift their spears to battle.  In\nthe van were strife and stubborn hand-play, warriors valiant in\nthe weapon-struggle, fearless fighters, bloody wounds and clash\nof helmets, onrush of a battle-host, as Judah's sons advanced.\n\n(ll. 331-339) Behind that army proudly marched the seamen, sons\nof Reuben; the vikings bore their bucklers over the salt\nsea-marsh, a multitude of men, a mighty legion, advancing\nunafraid.  For his sin's sake Reuben yielded his dominion and\nmarched behind his kinsmen.  From him his brother took his right\nas first-born in the tribe, his eminence and wealth.  Yet was he\nready.\n\n(ll. 340-253) And after them with thronging bands the sons of\nSimeon marched, the third division.  Banners waved above the\nmarching warriors; with flashing spears the battle troop pressed\non.  Over the ocean's bosom dawn arose, God's beacon, radiant\nmorning.  The multitude went forth, the host advanced, one\nmail-clad band behind another.  And one man only led this mighty\nfolk, tribe after tribe, upon their march beneath the pillar of\ncloud, whereby he won renown.  And each observed the right of\nnations and the rank of earls, as Moses gave them bidding.\n\n(ll. 253-361) One father had they all, one of the patriarchs, a\nwell-loved leader, wise of heart and dear unto his kinsmen, who\nheld the landright and begat a line of valiant men, the tribe of\nIsrael, a holy race, God's own peculiar people.  So ancient\nwriters tell us in their wisdom, who best have known the lineage\nof men, their kinship and descent.\n\n(ll. 362-376) Noah, the great prince, sailed over unknown waters,\ndeepest of floods that ever came on earth, and his three sons\nwith him.  Within his heart he cherished holy faith.  Wherefore\nhe steered across the oceanstreams the richest treasure whereof I\never heard.  To save the life of all the tribes of earth the wise\nsea-prince had numbered out a lasting remnant, a first generation,\nmale and female, of every living kind that brought forth offspring,\nmore various than men now know.  And likewise in the bosom of their\nship they bore the seed of every growing thing that men enjoy\nbeneath the heavens.\n\n(ll. 377-396) Now Abraham's father, as the wise men tell us, was\nninth from Noah in lineage and descent.  This is the Abraham the\nGod of angels named with a name, and gave the holy tribes into\nhis keeping, far and near, and made him mighty over nations.  He\nlived in exile.  Thereafter, at the Holy One's behest, he took\nthe lad, most dear of all to him, and they two, son and father,\nclimbed together a high land unto the hill of Sion.  And there,\nso men have heard, they found a covenant and holy pledge, and saw\nGod's glory.  And there, in after years, the son of David, the\ngreat king, the wisest of all earthly princes, according to the\nteaching of the prophets, built a temple unto God, a holy fane,\nthe holiest and highest and most famous among men, the greatest\nand most splendid of all temples the sons of men have built upon\nthe earth.\n\n(ll. 397-416) Abraham took Isaac, his son, and went to the place\nappointed, and kindled the altar flame.  The first of murderers\nwas not more doomed.  As a bequest to men he would have\nsacrificed his well-loved son with fire and flame, his only heir\non earth, the best of children, the lasting hope and comfort of\nhis life, for which he long had waited.  The farfamed man laid\nhand upon the lad and drew his ancient sword (loud rang the\nblade), and showed he held his son's life not more dear than to\nobey the King of heaven.  Up rose the earl.  He would have slain\nhis son, and put the lad to death with blood-red blade, if God\nhad not withheld him.  The Glorious Father would not take his son\nin holy sacrifice, but laid His hand upon him.  And out of heaven\na restraining Voice, a Voice of glory, spake, and said to him:\n\n(ll. 417-445) \"Abraham!  Put not the lad, thy son, to death, nor\nslay him with the sword!  The Lord of all hath proven thee, and\ntruth is known, that thou hast kept the covenant with God, a\nfaithful compact.  And that shall be to thee an everlasting peace\nthrough all the days of thy life for ever.  Doth the son of man\nrequire a greater pledge?  Heaven and earth may not cover the\nwords of His glory, which are ampler and greater than the regions\nof earth may include, the orb of the world, and the heavens\nabove, the ocean depths and the murmuring air.  The King of\nangels and Wielder of fates, Lord of hosts, Dispenser of victory,\nsweareth an oath by His life, that men on earth with all their\nwisdom shall never know the number of thy tribe and kinsmen,\nshield-bearing men, to tell it truly, except someone shall grow\nso wise of heart that he alone may number all the stones on earth\nand stars in heaven, sand of the sea-dunes, and salt waves of the\nsea.  But thy tribe, the best of peoples, free-born of their\nfathers, shall dwell in the land of Canaan between the two seas\neven unto the nations of Egypt....\"\n\n((LACUNA--One or two leaves missing.))\n\n\nXLVIII\n\n((Missing in Lacuna))\n\n\nXLIX\n\n(ll. 446-457) Then all that folk was smitten with terror; fear of\nthe flood fell on their wretched hearts.  The great sea\nthreatened death.  The sloping hills were soaked with blood; the\nsea spewed gore.  In the deep was uproar, the waves were filled\nwith weapons; a death-mist rose.  The Egyptians turned and fled\naway in fear, perceiving their peril.  They were shaken with\nhorror and fain to reach their homes.  Their boasting was\nhumbled.  The dreadful rushing sea swept over them.  Nor did any\nof that army come ever again to their homes, but Fate cut off\nretreat and locked them in the sea.\n\n(ll. 457-470) Where before lay open roads the ocean raged.  The\nhost was overwhelmed.  The seas flowed forth; an uproar rose to\nheaven, a moan of mighty legions.  There rose a great cry of the\ndoomed, and over them the air grew dark.  Blood dyed the deep.\nThe walls of water were shattered; the greatest of sea-deaths\nlashed the heavens.  Brave princes died in throngs.  At the sea's\nend hope of return had vanished away.  War shields flashed.  The\nwall of water, the mighty sea-stream, rushed over the heroes.\nThe multitude was fettered fast in death, deprived of escape,\ncunningly bound.  The ocean-sands awaited the doom ordained when\nthe flowing billows, the ice-cold, wandering sea with its salt\nwaves, a naked messenger of ill, a hostile warrior smiting down\nits foes, should come again to seek its ancient bed.\n\n(ll. 470-491) The blue air was defiled with blood.  The roaring\nocean menaced the march of the seamen with terror of death, till\nthe Just God swept the warriors away by Moses' hand.  The flood\nfoamed, hunting them afar, bearing them off in its deadly\nembrace.  The doomed men died.  The sea fell on the land; the\nskies were shaken.  The watery ramparts crumbled, the great waves\nbroke, the towering walls of water melted away, when the Mighty\nLord of heaven with holy hand smote the warriors and that haughty\nrace.  They could not check the onrush of the sea, nor the fury\nof the ocean-flood, but it destroyed the multitude in shrieking\nterror.  The raging ocean rose on high; its waters passed over\nthem.  A madness of fear was upon them; deathwounds bled.  The\nhigh walls, fashioned by the hand of God, fell in upon the\nmarching army.\n\n(ll. 491-515) With ancient sword the foamy-bosomed ocean smote\ndown the watery wall, the unprotecting ramparts, and at the blow\nof death the great host fell asleep, a sinful throng.  Fast shut\nin they lost their lives, an army pale with terror of the flood,\nwhen the brown waste of waters, the raging waves, broke over\nthem.  The flower of Egypt perished when the host of Pharaoh, a\nmighty multitude, was drowned.  The foe of God discovered as he\nsank that the Lord of the ocean-floods was mightier than he, and,\nterrible in wrath, with deadly power would end the battle.  The\nEgyptians won a bitter recompense for that day's work.  Never\ncame any survivor of all that countless host unto his home again\nto tell of his journey or rehearse to the wives of heroes,\nthroughout the cities, the grievous tidings, the death of their\ntreasure-wardens; but a mighty sea-death came upon them all and\nswallowed their legions, and slew their heralds, and humbled\ntheir boasting.  For they had striven against God!\n\n(ll. 516-531) Then on the shore of the sea Moses, the\nnoble-hearted, preached to the Israelites, in holy words, eternal\nwisdom and enduring counsels.  They name it the day's work!  And\nstill men find in Scripture every law which God, in words of\ntruth, gave Moses on that journey.  If life's interpreter, the\nradiant soul within the breast, will unlock with the keys of the\nspirit this lasting good, that which is dark shall be made clear,\nand counsel shall go forth.  It hath the words of wisdom in its\nkeeping, earnestly teaching the heart, that we may not lack the\nfellowship of God, or mercy of our Lord.  He giveth us, as\nlearned writers say, the better and more lasting joys of heaven.\n\n(ll. 531-547) This earthly joy is fleeting, cursed with sin,\napportioned unto exiles, a little time of wretched waiting.\nHomeless we tarry at this inn with sorrow, mourning in spirit,\nmindful of the house of pain beneath the earth wherein are fire\nand the worm, the pit of every evil ever open.  So now\narch-sinners win old age or early death; then cometh the Day of\nJudgment, the greatest of all glories in the world, a day of\nwrath upon the deeds of men.  The Lord Himself, in the assembly,\nshall judge the multitude.  Then shall He lead the souls of the\nrighteous, blessed spirits, to heaven above, wherein are light\nand life and joy of bliss.  In blessedness that host shall praise\nthe Lord of hosts, the King of glory, for ever and for ever.\n\n(ll. 548-552) So spake the mildest of men, in a loud voice,\nmindful of counsel, and made great in strength.  In silence the\nhost awaited his fixed will, perceiving the wonder, the hero's\nwords of goodly wisdom.  And he spake unto the throng and said:\n\n(ll. 553-563) \"Mighty is this multitude and great our Leader, a\nstrong Support who governeth our march.  He hath given the tribes\nof Canaan into our hands, their cities and treasure, and\nwide-stretching realms.  If ye will keep His holy precepts, the\nLord of angels will fulfil the promise which He sware to our\nforefathers, in days of old--that ye shall vanquish every foe\nand hold in victory the banquet hails of heroes between the two\nseas.  Great shall be your fortune!\"\n\n(ll. 564-579) And at these words the host was glad.  The trumpets\nsang their song of triumph, and banners tossed to strains of\njoyous music.  The folk had reached the land.  The pillar of\nglory had led the host, the holy legions, under God's sheltering\nhand.  They rejoiced that their lives were saved from the clutch\nof the foe, though boldly had those warriors ventured under the\nroof of the waves.  They beheld the walls upstanding.  All the\nseas seemed bloody unto them through which they bore their\narmour.  They rejoiced with a song of battle that they were safe.\nThe army legions lifted up their voice and praised the Lord for\nthat great work.  The mighty host in chorus, man and maiden, sang\npsalms and battle anthems, with reverent voices chanting all\nthese wonders.\n\n(ll. 580-590) Then could be seen on the shore of the sea African\nmaidens adorned with gold.  They raised their hands in thanks for\ntheir deliverance; they were blithe beholding their safety; they\ntook heed of the spoils; their bonds were broken.  On the\nsea-shore they dealt out the booty among the standards, ancient\ntreasure and raiment and shields.  They divided the gold and the\nwoven cloth, the treasure of Joseph, the riches of men.  But\ntheir foes, the greatest of armies, lay still in that place of\ndeath.\n\n\n\nDANIEL\n\n\nL\n\n(ll. 1-21) In Jerusalem, as I have heard, the Hebrews prospered,\ndispensing treasure and holding kingly sway, as well was meet,\nwhen by the might of God the host and all the battle legion were\ngiven into Moses' hand, and in a multitude they got them forth\nfrom Egypt.  That was a valiant race so long as they might rule\ntheir realm and sway their cities!  As long as they kept the\ncovenant of their fathers, great was their prosperity!  And God,\nthe Warden of the heavenly kingdom, the Holy Lord, the Prince of\nglory, the Lord of every creature, watched over them, and gave\nthem strength and courage, so that in war they conquered many\nnations who rose against them, until at last pride came upon them\nat their wine-feasts, drunken thoughts and devilish deeds, and\nthey forsook the teachings of their law, and the might of God.\nSo should no man sunder his soul's love from God.\n\n(ll. 22-32) Then I beheld that nation walking in ways of error,\nthe tribe of Israel following after sin, and doing evil.  That\nwas a grief to God!  The Warden of the heavenly kingdom oft sent\nHis holy prophets, proclaiming knowledge to the people, and\nwisdom to the host.  A little time they trusted in His counsels,\ntill longing for the joys of earth defrauded them of lasting\nwisdom, and in the end they turned them from the laws of God, and\nchose the Devil's craft.\n\n(ll. 33-56) Then the Lord became displeased and angered with that\npeople whom He had prospered.  To them, a wandering folk, who\nonce were dearest of mankind to God, dearest of all peoples and\nbest loved of the Lord, He had showed a highway to their lofty\ncity and their native land, where Salem stood, wailed round about\nand girt with battlements.  Thither the wise men, the Chaldean\npeople, came up against the city within whose walls their wealth\nwas stored.  A host rose up to smite them, a great army, eager\nfor deeds of blood.  Nebuchadnezzar, the lord of men and prince\nof Babylon, stirred up strife against them in his city.  In\nenmity he searched the thoughts of his heart how he most easily\ncould smite the Israelites and take them captive.  From south and\nnorth he mustered savage legions, faring westward with a band of\nheathen princes against that lofty town.  The rulers of Israel\nprospered as long as the Lord would let them!\n\n(ll. 57-78) Then, as I have heard, these mortal foes, a host of\nunbelievers, sacked their city.  From Solomon's temple, that\nglorious building, they took red gold and jewels and silver.\nThey plundered the treasure under the walls of stone, all such as\nthose earls possessed, till they had razed and wasted every\nstronghold which stood for a protection to that people.  They\ncarried off as spoil the treasure of princes, as much as was\nfound there, cattle and men; and so returned, with great\npossessions, over the eastern roads, leading the tribe of Israel,\na countless host, on a long journey unto Babylon, into the power\nof heathen judges.  And Nebuchadnezzar showed no pity on the\ntribe of Israel, but made them subject unto him to be his slaves,\nall such as had escaped the sword.  And he sent a great host of\nhis thanes into the west to take possession of their kingdom and\ntheir wasted realm, after the Hebrews.\n\n(ll. 79-87) He bade his prefects seek among the wretched remnant\nof the tribe of Israel which of the young men they had brought\nthere were wisest in the books of the law.  He wished the youths\nto grow in knowledge, that they might teach him wisdom, but not\nat all because he could or would be mindful to thank God for all\nthe gifts which He had given him to his comfort.\n\n(ll. 88-103) And they found three wise and noble youths, devout\nand young, and with the fear of God.  One was Hananiah; the\nsecond, Azariah; the third was Mishael, chosen of the Lord.\nStout of heart and thoughtful-minded the young men came before\nthe king, where the heathen ruler sat rejoicing in his splendour\nin the city of the Chaldeans.  And the Hebrew men with holy\nhearts spake words of wisdom and great learning unto the proud\nprince.  Then the lord of Babylon, the haughty king, bade his\nthanes and princes on their lives see to it that the three youths\nknew no lack of food or raiment all their life long.\n\n\nLI\n\n(ll. 104-115) Now the famous lord of Babylon was great and\nglorious over all the earth, and terrible to the sons of men.  He\nlived in insolence and heeded not the law.  And there came to the\ngreat king in his slumber, when the prince had gone to his rest,\na terrible dream that hovered about his heart, how wondrously the\nworld was wrought, unlike for men, until the world's redemption.\nTruth was revealed as he slumbered, that there would come a\nbitter end to every rule and to the joys of earth.\n\n(ll. 116-129) Then the wolf-hearted lord of Babylon awoke from\nhis wine-flushed slumber.  His heart was not blithe; but a fear\nwas upon him, and dread of the dream.  Yet he could not recall\nwhat the vision had been.  And he summoned his people, all such\nas were skilled in magic, and asked the men so gathered what his\ndream had been, while men lay sleeping.  He was shaken with\nterror and knew no beginning nor word of the dream; but he bade\nthem tell it to him.  Troubled, the sorcerers answered (for\nwisdom was not given them to tell his dream unto the king):\n\n(ll. 130-133) \"How may we divine so secret a thing in thy soul, O\nking!  how thy dream hath run, or knowledge come to thee of\nFate's decrees, except thou tell us first the beginning of thy\ndream?\"\n\n(ll. 134-144) And the wolf-hearted king was vexed, and answered\nhis wise men: \"Ye were not so wise above all men as ye told me,\nsaying ye knew my fate as it should fall, or I should find it in\nthe future, nor do ye know the dream that bringeth wisdom before\nthis people.  Ye shall die the death except I know the import of\nthe dream that lieth heavy on my heart.\"\n\n(ll. 145-157) But the company there gathered might not divine or\nsearch out knowledge, for it was denied them to tell the king his\ndream, or the mysteries of fate, until Daniel, the prophet, wise\nand righteous, and beloved of God, came to the palace to\ninterpret the vision.  He had pre-eminence among that wretched\nremnant who needs must serve the heathen king.  God gave him\ngrace from heaven through the communion of the Holy Spirit; and\nan angel of the Lord rehearsed to him all the dream, even as the\nking had dreamed it.\n\n(ll. 158-177) Then went Daniel at the dawn of day to tell the\ndream unto his lord, recounting wisely the decrees of fate; and\nsoon the haughty king knew all the dream, its end and its\nbeginning, that he had dreamed.  And Daniel had great honour and\nreward in Babylon among the scribes, after he showed the dream\nunto the king which the prince of Babylon had not been able to\nremember because of his sins.  Yet could not Daniel bring him to\nbelieve in the might of God, but he began to build an idol in the\nplain which men called Dura, which was in the land of the mighty\nBabylonians.  The city-warden, the ruler of the realm, reared an\nidol before men, a golden image displeasing unto God; he was not\nwise, but redeless, reckless, heeding not the right....\n\n((LACUNA--One leaf missing.))\n\n(ll. 178-187) The warriors listened; and when the sound of the\nvoice of the trumpet came to the city-dwellers, the heathen\npeople fell upon their knees before the image, and bowed them\ndown before the idol, and worshipped it, knowing no better\nwisdom.  Wickedness they wrought and sin, with hearts perverted,\neven as their king.  As their lord before them, the people turned\nto folly.  Grim the reward that came on him thereafter!  For he\nhad sinned.\n\n(ll. 188-208) Now there were three men of Israel in the city of\nthe king who would not heed their lord's decree, nor offer up\ntheir prayers unto the idol, though trumpets sang aloud among the\nhost.  They were of the stock of Abraham's children, faithful men\nwho served Almighty God, the Everlasting Lord in heaven above.\nThe royal youths gave men to know they would not have or hold the\ngolden image as a god, but only the Great King, Shepherd of\nsouls, who granted them His grace.  Oft they said boldly that\nthey recked naught of the idol, nor could the leader of the\nheathen people constrain them unto prayer, nor compel them to go\nbefore the golden image which he had set up as a god.  These\nthanes said unto their lord that this was their resolve: that\nthey were subject to a higher power in this lofty city, \"nor will\nwe ever work idolatry, nor worship the image which thou hast made\nto be thy god.\"\n\n(ll. 209-223) Then the prince of Babylon was angered with them,\nand in wrath gave them savage answer: grimly said that they\nshould quickly worship, or suffer pain and torture, the cruel\nsurge of flame, except they sought protection of that worst of\ndemons, the golden image which he had made his god.  Yet would\nthe youths not hearken in their hearts unto his heathen counsels.\nThey were resolved to keep the law of God and not forsake the\nLord of hosts, lest that their virtue turn to heathen folly.\nThey had no longing to seek shelter with false gods, though\nbitter the death proclaimed!\n\n\nLII\n\n(ll. 224-241) Then the fierce king was moved to anger, and bade\nthem kindle a furnace to torture the youths to death, because\nthey withstood his will.  The furnace was heated, as fiercely as\nmight be, with cruel flames of fire.  And the lord of Babylon,\nsavage and grim, assembled the people, and bade his servants bind\nthe prophets of God, and cast the young men in the flames.  But\nHe was ready who wrought them help!  Though the prince so\nfiercely thrust them into the heart of the flame, yet a mighty\nmessenger of God preserved their lives, and brought them help\nfrom heaven, as many learned.  From heaven above the Gracious\nLord of men sent unto them His Holy Spirit.  An angel passed\nwithin the furnace, wherein they suffered torment, and covered\nthe noble youths with sheltering arms under the roof of fire.\nAnd the heat of the quivering flame could not mar their beauty;\nbut God preserved them.\n\n(ll. 242-250) Then the heart of the heathen prince was hardened;\nhe bade them quickly be burned with fire.  The flame rose high,\nthe furnace was heated; through and through the iron glowed.\nMany a slave cast wood therein according to command.  Brands they\nbore to the ruddy blaze.  The ruthless king would fain have built\nan iron wall about those righteous men, but the flame passed over\nthem, beloved of God, and with joy slew more than was meet.\n\n(ll. 251-268) The flame passed by the holy men and fell upon\ntheir heathen foes.  The youths were blithe of heart!  Round\nabout the furnace burned the slaves; the fire took hold upon\nthose evil men to their hurt, and the prince of Babylon beheld\nit.  Blithe were the Hebrew earls, praying to God with zeal and\ngladness in the furnace, offering their accustomed praise,\nbecause their lives were spared.  With joyful hearts they\nworshipped God, in whose protection the fierce heat of the flame\nwas turned away.  The noble youths were sheltered from the\nflames' assault, and suffered naught of evil.  The roaring\nfurnace was no more grievous unto them than the shining of the\nsun.  The fire harmed them not, but in their hour of danger the\nflames passed over them, and fell on those who did them evil.\nThe heathen slaves departed from the holy youths.  And the beauty\nof those cursed men was lessened, whoso had rejoiced in that\nwork!\n\n(ll. 269-278) Now when the haughty king beheld how in that\ntorture a miracle was come to pass, and believed his senses, it\nseemed to him a wondrous thing.  The righteous men, all three,\nwere walking unharmed in the fiery furnace, and one was seen\nthere walking with them, an angel of Almighty God.  No whit of\nharm had come upon them, but within the furnace it was most like\nas when in the summer season the sun shineth, and the dewfall\ncometh at dawn, scattered by the wind.  It was the God of glory\nwho saved them from that peril.\n\n(ll. 279-282) Then in the hot flame the holy Azariah,\neager-hearted, sang an inspired hymn. The sinless man praised God\nand spake this word:\n\n(ll. 283-295) \"O Lord of all!  Thy might is strong to save!\nExcellent is Thy name in all the earth, sublime and great in\nglory!  Thy laws are always sure and just and mighty, even as\nThou art mighty.  Wise and righteous is Thy will, O Lord of\nheaven!  O God of spirits, grant us help and favour!  Save us, O\nHoly Lord!  Wrapped in flame, we pray Thee for Thy mercy on our\nwoe, our thraldom and humiliation.\n\n(ll. 295-308) \"As we have wrought, so hath it come to pass.  Our\nfathers also, city-dwellers, in pride have sinned, and broken Thy\ncommandments, and scorned a holy life.  We are scattered over all\nthe spacious earth and driven asunder, cast out from grace.  In\nmany lands and under many peoples our life is infamous and vile,\nand we are subject to the worst of earthly kings, and captive to\ngrim-hearted men; in heathen lands we suffer thraldom.\n\n(ll. 309-332) \"Thanks be to Thee, O Lord of hosts!  that Thou\nhast laid this punishment upon us.  Forsake us not, O Lord\nEternal, for Thy mercy's sake which men attribute unto Thee, and\nfor the covenant, O Lord of glory, Shaper of spirits, Saviour of\nmen!  which Thou didst give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.\nThou didst promise them in days of old that Thou wouldest bless\ntheir seed, and that a mighty nation should be born of them, a\nrace to be exalted as the stars of heaven that trace their\nwandering courses even to the strand of ocean, and the sands of\nthe sea-shore that form the foundations of the deep throughout\nthe salt sea; even so should they be numberless for untold years.\nFulfil Thine ancient promise now, though few are living!  Show\nforth Thy glory and Thy word upon us!  Make known Thy strength\nand power, that the Chaldean race and many nations living heathen\nlives may learn Thy glory under heaven, and know Thou only art\nEternal God, Wielder of victory, Lord of hosts and all creation,\nthe Righteous God.\"\n\n(ll. 333-344) So the holy men praised the loving-kindness of the\nLord, rehearsing the strength of His might.  Then was a gleaming\nangel sent from heaven above, with shining face and clothed in\nglory, who came to comfort and deliver them with loving favour.\nHoly and heavenly bright, he cast aside the blaze of the hot\nflame; with mighty strength he swept away and quenched the flame\nof fire so that their bodies were not harmed a whir.  But in his\nwrath he hurled the fire upon their foes, because of their deeds\nof evil.\n\n(ll. 345-361) Then in the furnace, when the angel came, the air\nwas cool and pleasant, most like the weather in the summer\nseason, when rain falleth during the day and warm showers from\nthe clouds.  As is the best of weather, so was it in the furnace\nfor their comfort through the holy might of God. The burning\nflame was quenched and scattered where Hananiah, Azariah, and\nMishael, with brave hearts, were walking in the furnace, and the\nangel with them who preserved their lives, who was the fourth.\nDevout of heart, the three youths praised the Lord, and called\nupon the sons of Israel and all created things of earth to bless\nthe Everlasting God, the Lord of nations. With understanding\nhearts they spake with one accord:\n\n\nLIII\n\n(ll. 362-408) \"O let the beauty of the world, and all Thy works,\nbless Thee, our Gracious Father, the heavens and all the angels,\nand the shining waters!  Let all, who in Thy great creation dwell\nin heavenly glory, bless the Lord of might!  Let all things made,\nthe shining orbs that circle through the heavens, the sun and\nmoon, praise Thee in their degree.  Let the stars of heaven, and\ndew and the fierce storm, praise Thee.  O let the souls of men\nbless the Lord of might!  Let burning fire and radiant summer\npraise Thee.  Let night and day and all lands, light and\ndarkness, heat and cold, praise Thee in their degree.  Let frost\nand snow and wintry weather and the flying clouds bless the Lord\nof might!  Let the swift, shining lightnings bless Thee!  Let all\nthe earth, the hills and plains and lofty mountains, the salt\nsea-waves and ocean, and the welling springs, praise the\nEverlasting God, the Righteous Lord!  Let the whales, and the\nbirds of the air that fly in the heavens, praise Thee.  Let all\nthat move in the water, wild beasts and all cattle, bless Thy\nname!  Let all men praise Thee, yea!  let Israel bless the Lord,\nwho giveth all good things.  Let holy men of heart, the spirits\nand souls of the righteous, praise the Everlasting God, the Lord\nof life, who giveth a reward to all.  Let Hananiah and Azariah\nand Mishael praise the Lord!  We worship Thee and bless Thee,\nLord of men, Almighty Father, and Thee, True Son of God, Saviour\nof souls and Helper of mankind, and Thee, O Holy Ghost, the God\nof wisdom.  We praise Thee, Holy Lord, and worship Thee with\nprayer.  Blessed art Thou, and adorned with holy might for ever,\nabove the world's roof reigning King of heaven, and Lord of life\nin every land.\"\n\n(ll. 409-415) Then Nebuchadnezzar, the lord of that people, spake\nunto the princes who stood nigh unto him and said: \"Ye beheld, my\nprinces, how we cast three men to a fiery death in the blazing\nflames.  And now, in truth, I see four men therein, except my\nsense deceive me.\"\n\n(ll. 416-429) Then spake a counsellor of the king, wise of heart\nand prudent of speech: \"This is some marvel which we behold with\nour eyes.  Bethink thee now, my lord, of what is fitting.  Know\nwho it is hath showed this grace upon the youths.  They worship\nOne Eternal God, and call on Him with zeal by every name.  With\neager words they praise His Majesty, and say that He alone is God\nAlmighty, Wise King of glory, of earth and heaven.  Call these\nmen forth from out the furnace, prince of the Chaldeans!  In no\nwise is it well that they should linger in that torture longer\nthan thou hast need.\"\n\n(ll. 430-439) Then the king bade the young men come before him.\nBoldly the noble youths obeyed His word and came as they were\nbidden.  The young men rose and went before the heathen king.\nTheir fetters were burned away and the bonds of the king which\nwere laid upon them, but their bodies were saved from harm.  For\ntheir beauty was no wise injured, nor was any harm come upon\ntheir garments, nor their hair singed by the fire, but in God's\nprotection they came forth gladly from that gruesome horror, wise\nof heart and favoured by the Holy Ghost.\n\n(ll. 440-457) Then the angel, a faithful servant to the Holy\nLord, departed up to seek eternal bliss on the high roof of the\nheavenly kingdom.  And by that marvel he had honoured those who\nhad deserved it.  The young men praised the Lord before the\nheathen host, exhorting them with words of truth, rehearsing many\ntruthful tokens before the king, until he too believed this was a\nGod of wonders who freed them from the darkness.  And the mighty\nlord of Babylon, the haughty king, decreed among his people that\nhe was guilty unto death whoso denied this was a glorious God of\nmight who freed them from that death.  He gave back unto God the\nremnants of His captive people and granted favour to his olden\nfoes.  And their prosperity in Babylon was great and their fame\nwas known throughout the nation, after they endured that trial by\nfire, and obeyed their Lord.  Mighty were their counsels after\nGod, the Holy Warden of the heavenly kingdom, had shielded them\nfrom harm.\n\n(ll. 458-471) Then, as I have heard, when the lord of Babylon\nperceived the marvel that was come to pass within the flames, he\nwas fain to know how the youths had passed through the blaze of\nfire, and overwon the terror of the heated furnace and the\nflames, so that the fury of the burning brands and raging furnace\nhad wrought God's prophets naught of harm, but His defence had\nshielded them against that fearful peril.  And the prince\ncommanded a council, and summoned his people, and there, before\nthe multitude so gathered, rehearsed the event as it had come to\npass, and the miracle of God made known upon the youths:\n\n(ll. 472-485) \"Consider now the holy might and wondrous works of\nGod.  We saw how He shielded the young men in the furnace from\ndeath and the leaping flames, because they served Him.  He only\nis the Lord, Eternal and Almighty, who gives them glory and\nabundant weal who preach His gospel.  And He reveals Himself by\nmany a wonder to holy hearts who seek His favour.  It is well\nknown that Daniel showed me the interpretation of a secret dream,\nwhich formerly perplexed the minds of many men among my people,\nbecause Almighty God had given him an understanding spirit in his\nheart, and strength of wisdom.\"\n\n(ll. 486-494) So spake the leader of the host, the lord of\nBabylon, when he perceived the miracle and God's clear token.\nAnd yet he wrought no whit the better; pride ruled the prince.\nHis heart was insolent and the thoughts of his heart were\nthoughts of pride, more than was meet, until the Lord Almighty\nhumbled him, as He humbleth many who walk with arrogance.\n\n\nLIV\n\n(ll. 495-522) Now a dream came unto Nebuchadnezzar in his sleep\nand troubled him.  It seemed to him that there stood a tree upon\nthe earth, wondrous fair, deeply rooted and gleaming with fruit.\nNor was it like to other trees, but it towered unto the stars of\nheaven, so that it overshadowed the regions of the world and all\nthe earth with its boughs and branches, even unto the shores of\nthe sea.  And as he gazed it seemed to him that the tree made\nshelter for the wild beasts, and that it held food for them all,\nand likewise that the birds of the air found sustenance in the\nfruit of the tree.  And it seemed to him that an angel descended\nfrom the heavens, and spake with a loud voice, commanding the\ntree to be cut down, and the wild beasts and the birds to flee\naway, when its fall should come.  And he bade that its fruit be\ncut off and its branches and boughs, but that the roots of the\ntree should abide fast in the earth as a token, until green\nshoots should spring again when God granted.  And he bade bind\nthe mighty tree with brazen fetters and fetters of iron, and thus\nbound cast it into torment, that his heart might know that a\nmightier than he had power of correction, against whom he might\nnot prevail.\n\n(ll. 523-537)  Then the earthly king awoke from his slumber, and\nhis dream was ended.  But fear of it was upon him, and terror of\nthe vision which God had sent him.  And the haughty king bade\nsummon his people together, and the leaders of the people, and\nasked them all the import of his dream, in no wise thinking that\nthey knew; but he made trial of them how they would answer.  Then\nDaniel, the prophet of God, was called unto judgment, and the\nHoly Ghost was sent to him from heaven to strengthen his heart.\nIn him the lord of men perceived an understanding spirit and\ndepth of counsel, strength of wisdom, words of judgment.  And\nonce again he showed forth many a wonder, the mighty works of\nGod, before the eyes of men.\n\n(ll. 538-550) Then the proud, heathen leader of the host began to\ntell his fearful dream, and all the horror of the vision that had\nvexed him, and bade him tell the import of this secret thing,\nbidding him speak in holy words and search his heart to tell with\ntruth the meaning of the tree which he saw gleaming, and declare\nto him the decrees of fate.  Then he fell silent.  Yet Daniel\nclearly saw in the assembly that his prince, the lord of men, was\nguilty before God.  The prophet paused; then God's herald,\nskilled in the law, made answer to the king:\n\n(ll. 551-579) \"This, O prince of men, is no little wonder, which\nthou hast seen in thy dream, a tree as high as heaven, and the\nholy words, wrathful and full of terror, which the angel spake--that\nthe tree should be stripped of its branches and fall, where\nformerly it stood fast, lying joyless with the beasts, abiding in\na desert place, its roots to remain fast in the earth in\nstillness for a season where it stood, as the Voice declared, and\nthen after seven years to receive increase again!  So shall thy\nfortune be brought low!  As the tree grew high unto heaven so art\nthou lord and ruler over all the dwellers of earth, and there is\nnone on earth to withstand thee save God alone.  He shall cut\nthee off from thy kingdom and drive thee into exile without\nfriends, and thy heart shall be changed so that there shall be no\nthought in thy heart of worldly joys, nor any reason in thy mind\nsave the ways of the wild beasts, but thou shalt live a long time\nin the forest ranging with the deer.  Thou shalt have no food\nsave the grass of the field, nor any fixed abiding-place, but the\nshowers of rain shall drench thee and harass thee even as the\nwild beasts, until after seven winters thou shalt believe there\nis One God for all mankind, a Lord and Ruler dwelling in the\nheavens.\n\n(ll. 580-592) \"Yet is it pleasing unto me that the roots remained\nfixed in the earth, as the Voice declared, and after seven\nseasons received increase.  So shall thy kingdom stand unharmed\nof men until thou come again.  Take now, my lord, firm counsel in\nthy heart; give alms; defend the needy, and make atonement before\nGod, ere yet the hour cometh when He shall drive thee from thine\nearthly kingdom.  Oft for many peoples God abateth pain and woe,\nif they but earnestly repent them of their sins, ere His avenging\nwrath, with fatal doom, hath laid them low.\"\n\n(ll. 593-597) But Daniel was not able to speak these many words\nof truth, with craft of wisdom, to his lord, so that the mighty\nruler of the world would heed; but pride ruled his heart.  And\nbitter was his atonement!\n\n(ll. 598-607) And as the king of the Chaldeans ruled his realm,\nand beheld the city of Babylon in its prosperity towering up to\nheaven, the city which the prince had built with many a wonder\nfor his people, and the fields of the Shinarites wide-stretching\nround about, then the king began to utter boastful words.  He\nbecame perverse and arrogant of heart, beyond all men, because of\nthe special gifts which God had given him, a mighty kingdom and\nthe world to rule in the life of men:\n\n(ll. 608-611) \"Thou art the mighty city, famed afar, which I have\nbuilded to my honour, a spacious kingdom.  I will have rest in\nthee, a dwelling and a home.\"\n\n(ll. 612-621) Then the lord of men was smitten for his boasting,\nand driven into exile, arrogant of heart beyond all men.  Even as\nin the days of strife, when God's swift wrath and anger smote him\nfrom the heavens, Nebuchadnezzar trod the bitterest path unto\nGod's vengeance that ever living men have trod.  Seven winters\ntogether the king of that fair city suffered torment, a\ndesert-life with beasts.\n\n(ll. 622-639) Then the wretched man, companion of the beasts,\nlooked up through the flying clouds; and he knew in his heart\nthat there was a Lord and King of heaven, and one Eternal Spirit\nruling over the sons of men.  And he was recovered from the\nmadness which long had been upon him, vexing the heart and soul\nof the king.  His heart was turned again unto men and his mind\nunto thoughts of God, after he came to know Him.  And the\nwretched man rose up and came again among men, a naked wanderer\nacknowledging his sin, a strange exile without clothing, and of\nhumbler heart than the lord of men had been in his boasting.\nBehind its lord the world had stood, behind the prince his home\nand native land, unchanged for seven winters together, so that\nhis kingdom had not lessened under heaven until its ruler came\nagain.\n\n(ll. 640-656) Then was the lord of Babylon once more seated upon\nhis throne; he had a better heart, a clearer faith in the Lord of\nlife, knowing that God dealeth unto every man weal or woe as He\ndesireth.  The lord of nations was not slow to heed the counsels\nof his wise men, but far and wide rehearsed the might of God,\nwhere he had power of proclamation.  He told his people of his\nwanderings, his far journeys with the beasts, until the spirit of\nthe Lord God came upon him and thoughts of wisdom, when he looked\nup to heaven.  Fate was fulfilled, the wonder come to pass, the\ndream come true, the punishment endured, the doom awarded, even\nas Daniel said aforetime that the king would suffer downfall for\nhis pride, and earnestly proclaimed it before men, by the might\nof God.\n\n(ll. 657-674) Then for a long time Daniel gave judgment and\ncounsel in Babylon unto the city-dwellers.  And after\nNebuchadnezzar, comrade and companion of the wild beasts,\nreturned from his wandering exile, the prince of the Chaldeans,\nthe wise and mighty leader of the folk, ruled his spacious\nkingdom, guarding his treasure and the lofty city, until death\ncame upon him.  And there was no man to withstand him upon earth\ntill God through death took his high kingdom from him. Thereafter\nhis descendants prospered greatly in that mighty stronghold, in\nthe city of earls, enjoying wealth and twisted gold, a mighty\ntreasure, when their lord lay dead.\n\n\nLV\n\n(ll. 675-685) And after him among that people arose a third\ngeneration, and Belshazzar ruled the city and the kingdom until\nhis heart grew great with insolence and hateful pride.  And the\nChaldean rule was ended!  For the Lord bestowed the kingdom upon\nthe Medes and Persians for a space of time, and let the might of\nBabylon diminish, which the heroes should have held.  But He knew\nthat they were sinful men who would have ruled the realm.\n\n(ll. 686-702) The lord of the Medes, as he sat in his stronghold,\nresolved on that which none had done before him, that he would\nlay waste Babylon, the city of earls, where the princes within\nthe walls dispensed the treasure.  Now the city of Babylon was\nthe most famous of all the fortresses of men, the mightiest and\nmost widely known of all that men inhabit, until Belshazzar in\nhis boasting tempted God.  They sat at wine within their walls,\nfearing not the hate of any foe, though a hostile folk with\nmighty hosts in armour were coming up against them, even against\nthe city of Babylon to destroy it.  And the Chaldean king and his\nkinsmen sat feasting on the last day.\n\n(ll. 703-711) Now when the leader of the host was drunk with wine\nhe bade them bring the treasure of Israel, the holy vessels of\nthe sacrifice, and the gold which the Chaldean warriors and their\nlegions had captured in Jerusalem, when they destroyed the might\nof Judah with the sword, boasting exceedingly, with tumult\nseizing on the kindly folk and gleaming treasure, as they\nplundered the temple and the shrine of Solomon.\n\n(ll. 712-726) Then was the lord of cities blithe in his heart,\nboasting fiercely and defying God, and said his gods were\nmightier to save, and greater, than the Eternal Lord of Israel.\nBut, as he gazed, there came a dreadful token before men within\nthe hall, that he had spoken a lie before his people.  The hand\nof an angel of God appeared within the lofty hall, a sight of\nterror, and wrote before the eyes of men upon the wall in scarlet\nletters and words of mystery.  Then the heart of the king was\ntroubled within him and sore afraid because of the sign; within\nthe hall he beheld the hand of an angel writing the doom of the\nShinarites.\n\n(ll. 727-736) But the multitude, the host within the hall,\ndebated what the hand had written for a sign to the city-dwellers.\nAnd many came to see the wonder.  They searched the thoughts of\ntheir hearts to know what the hand of the angel had written.  Nor\ncould the nobles and magicians read the angel's message till\nDaniel, wise and righteous, loved of God, came to the hall.  And\nhis heart was filled with wisdom sent from God.\n\n(ll. 737-742) Then, as I have heard, the city-dwellers sought to\ntempt Daniel with gifts to read the writing and tell the import\nof the mystery.  But the prophet of God, skilled in the law and\nwise of heart, made answer to them:\n\n(ll. 743-765) \"Not for gain do I pronounce God's judgments to the\npeople, nor of mine own strength, but freely will I tell thy\nfate, and the meaning of the words thou shalt not change.  In\nthine insolence thou hast given into the hands of men the vessels\nof the sacrifice, and in them drunk to devils, which formerly the\nIsraelites employed in holy rites before the ark of God, till\npride seduced them and drunken thoughts.  So shall it be with\nthee!  Never would thy lord before thee lay hands of insolence\nupon God's golden vessels, nor boast thereof, although it was his\nlegions that plundered Israel's treasure.  But after the Lord of\nglory showed forth His wonders upon him, the lord of nations\noften spake before his people in words of truth, and said that\nHe alone was Lord and Ruler of creation who gave him blameless\nglory in his earthly kingdom and great prosperity.  But thou\ndeniest that He is the Living God who ruleth over devils...\"\n\n((LACUNA of indeterminate length))\n\n\n\nCHRIST AND SATAN\n\n\n\nLIBER II\n\nI\n\nTHE LAMENT OF THE FALLEN ANGELS\n\n(ll. 1-18) It is revealed to those who dwell on earth that God\nhad strength and power when He wrought the borders of the world.\nBy His wondrous might He established the sun and moon, the rocks\nand earth and the oceanstream, water and clouds.  By His strength\nthe Lord upholdeth all the deep expanse, and middle-earth.  The\nSon of God beholdeth from the heavens the sea and its foundations:\nHe numbereth every drop of the showers of rain.  By His wondrous\npower He hath ordained the number of the days.  Even so in six\ndays, by His spirit's might, the Lord in heaven devised the valleys\nof the world and the high hills, and founded them. Who is there\nthat clearly knoweth all that mighty work except Eternal God?\n\n(ll. 19-33) Joys He dealeth out and riches.  He first created\nAdam, and a noble race, the angel princes, which later perished\nutterly.  For, it seemed to them in their hearts it well might be\nthat they themselves were lords of heaven, princes of glory.\nThen a worse fate befell them, and they went to find a home in\nhell, the foul abyss, where they must needs endure grim woe and\nsurging flame, no more possessing radiance of glory or high-built\nhalls in heaven; but they must needs plunge downward to those\ndepths of fiery flame, down to the bottomless abyss, insatiate\nand rapacious.  God only knoweth how He hath condemned that\nguilty host.\n\n(ll. 34-50) The Old One crieth out of hell, with horrible voice\nuttereth words accursed: \"Whither is fled the glory of the\nangels, which we should have in heaven?  This is a home of\ndarkness, terribly bound with fettering bonds of fire.  The floor\nof hell is ablaze, and flaming with poison.  The end is now not\nfar when we must suffer torment, pain, and woe, no whit\npossessing bliss in heavenly glory, nor joy, in her high halls.\nLo!  once we knew great bliss before the face of God, and songs\nof praise in heaven in happier hours, where now stand noble\nspirits round about Eternal God in His high hall, worshipping the\nLord with words and works.  And here in torment I must needs\nabide in bonds, nor ever hope for any better home, because of my\ninsolent pride.\"\n\n(ll. 51-64) Then answered the foul fiends, black and sinful,\nchained in torment: \"Thou with thy lies didst teach us not to\nserve the Saviour!  To thee alone it seemed that thou hadst power\nof all things in heaven and earth, that thou wert Holy God, even\nthe Creator.  Now thou art bound, thou wretched fiend, with bonds\nof flame.  In thy splendour thou didst think the world was thine,\nand power of all things, and we, the angels, with thee.\nLoathsome is thy face!  Sorely have we suffered for thy lies!\nThou saidest that thy son was Lord of men.  Now is thy woe the\ngreater.\"\n\n(ll. 65-74) So with bitter words and moaning voices the sinful\nspirits spake unto their lord.  Christ had cast them out, and\nbanished them from joy.  They had lost the radiant light of God\nin heaven through overweening pride.  For all their joy they had\nthe floors of hell and burning pain.  Pale, their beauty marred,\nthe fallen angels, miserable wretches, wandered through that\nloathsome pit, because of the presumptuous deeds which formerly\nthey wrought.\n\n\nII\n\n(ll. 75-80) Then once more spake the leader of the fiends; he was\nchastened anew, and racked with pangs of torment.  Black with\nfire and poison, he began to speak; no pleasant joy was this as\nhe poured forth his words in pain:\n\n(ll. 81-92) \"I was once a holy angel, dear unto God in heaven,\nand knew great joy before the face of the Lord God, likewise this\nmultitude.  But I resolved in my heart to overthrow the Lord of\nglory, the Son of God, and have myself the power to rule the\nworld, and all this wretched host which I have led unto a home in\nhell.  Bethink ye of the token and the curse, that I was\nbanished, deep below the earth, in the bottomless abyss. I have\nled you all from out your native home unto a house of bondage.\n\n(ll. 92-105) \"Here is no glory of the blessed, neither wine-halls\nof the proud, nor worldly joys nor angel throngs, nor may we have\npossession of high heaven.  This loathsome dwelling burns with\nfire.  I am God's foe.  Dragons dwell ever at the gates of hell,\ninflamed and furious; they may not help us!  This woeful house is\nfilled with torment.  In this deep darkness there is yet no place\nto shelter us, that we may hide therein.  Here is the adder's\nhiss; here serpents dwell.  Firmly the bonds of torment are\nfastened upon us.  Fierce are the fiends, swarthy and black.\nHere never gleameth day in the gloom of hell-shadows, nor the\nradiant light of God.\n\n(ll. 106-124) \"Once I had power and glory, before I earned God's\njudgment on my sin in this loathsome realm, upon the floor of\nhell.  Now I have come, and brought a host of fiends, unto this\nhome of darkness.  But, flying forth from hell from time to time,\nI needs must visit every land, and others of you also, who had\npart in our presumptuous deeds.  We need not hope the King of\nglory will ever grant us a home and dwelling, as He did of old,\nand everlasting power.  For the Son of God hath power of all\nthings, of glory and affliction.  Wherefore, downcast and\nwretched, I must wander far, an exile journey, stripped of glory,\nshorn of virtue, bereft of joy in heaven among the angels,\nbecause I said of old that I was King of glory and Lord of all.\"\n\n\nIII\n\n(ll. 125-128) But a worse fate befell him!  So the accursed\nspirit, doomed to woe, lamented his afflictions. (And through the\nfoul abyss a flame of fire raged, with venom mingled):\n\n(ll. 129-141) \"I am so large of limb there is no place in this\nwide hall to hide me, sore wounded with my sins.  Both heat and\ncold by turns are mingled here.  At times I hear the hell-slaves\nhowling, mourning these realms of pain beneath the earth; at\ntimes men naked strive with serpents.  All this windy hall is\nfilled with horror!  Never shall I know a happier home, nor any\ntown or mansion; nor ever shall mine eyes behold the shining\nworld again.\n\n(ll. 142-157) \"Worse is it now for me that ever I knew the light\nof glory with the angels, or melody in heaven, where blessed\nsouls are lapped in music by the Son of God.  I may not injure\nany soul save those alone which He rejecteth.  Those may I lead\nhome into bondage, and bring them to their dwelling in the grim\nabyss.  Changed are we all from what we were of old on high, in\nbeauty and in honour.  Oft, as disciples round our well-loved\nLord, we brought the sons of glory to the Saviour's arms, and\nlifted up our songs of praise, and worshipped Him.  But now I am\nstained with evil, and wounded with my sins.  In hell-fire\nburning bonds of pain shall sear my back, nor may I ever hope for\nany future good.\"\n\n(ll. 158-162) Then once more the loathsome fiend from hell,\naccursed in his woe, bewailed his endless torment.  His words\nflew up like sparks, most like to poison, as he hissed them\nforth:\n\n(ll. 162-175) \"O!  the majesty of God, the might of the Creator!\nO!  Thou Lord of heavenly hosts!  Farewell to earth, and the\ngleaming light of day!  Farewell the bliss of God, the angel\nhosts, the heavens above!  Alas!  that I have lost eternal joy,\nthat never again with my hands may I lay hold on heaven, nor\nthitherward lift up mine eyes, nor hear in mine ears the ringing\nvoice of the trumpet, because I would have driven from His throne\nthe Lord, the Son of God, and seized myself the power of majesty\nand joy and bliss.\n\n(ll. 176-188) \"Then a worse fate befell me than I could well\nforesee!  I am rejected from the heavenly host, cast out from\nlight into this loathsome home.  I may not well bethink me how I\nfell thus low, into this deep abyss, stained with my sins, and\ncast out from the world.  Now I know that he will forfeit all\neternal joy who thinketh not to serve the King of heaven and\nplease the Lord.  Needs must I undergo correction, vengeance and\npunishment and pain, stripped of every good, stained by my former\ndeeds, because I thought to drive God from His throne, the Lord\nof hosts.  Now, sorrowful and full of care, I needs must go an\nexile-journey, a wandering wide.\"\n\n\nIV\n\n(ll. 189-208) Then God's foe went to hell, wherein he was abased,\nand his thanes with him, covetous and greedy, when the Lord God\nhurled them down into that burning house whose name is hell.\nWherefore let every man take thought in his heart that he may not\nbe displeasing to the Son of God, remembering how the black\nfiends were undone by pride.  And let us choose as our delight\nthe Lord of hosts, the Prince of angels, and eternal joy in\nheaven above.  He showed that He had strength and wondrous power,\nwhen from His lofty throne He drove that great host into bondage.\nLet us be mindful of the Holy Lord, eternal in glory, and choose\na home on high with Christ, the Lord of all, the King of kings.\nWith blithe thoughts in our hearts, and peace and wisdom, let us\nbe mindful of righteousness and truth, when we think to kneel\nbefore His royal throne, and pray the Lord for mercy.\n\n(ll. 209-223) It behooveth him who dwelleth in these worldly joys\nto shine in beauty when he seeketh another life, and a land much\nfairer than this earth.  That is a land of beauty and of joy,\nwith fruits that brightly gleam among the cities.  That is a\nboundless realm, the home of the blessed in heaven, acceptable to\nChrist.  Let us turn thither where, in that dear home, the\nSaviour sitteth, Lord of victories, and round about His throne in\nradiant whiteness stand angel legions and all blessed souls, the\nholy heavenly hosts, and praise the Lord with words and works.\nTheir beauty gleameth with the King of glory, world without end.\n\n\nV\n\n(ll. 224-227) And further still, as I have heard, the fiends\nconfessed.  Their sin and punishment lay heavy on them.  In their\npresumptuous pride they had forgot the King of glory. Straightway\nin other words they spake:\n\n(ll. 228-244) \"Now is it seen that we have sinned in heaven, and\nnow must ever wage a hapless war against the might of God.  We\nmight have had our dwelling in the light of glory, in thousands\nserving Holy God, and chanting hymns about His throne.  And while\nwe dwelt there, and abode in bliss, came strains of heavenly\nmusic on our ears, and the voice of the trumpet.  Bright of word\narose the Prince of angels, and all His saints bowed down before\nHim.  The Eternal Lord Triumphant rose and stood above us, and\neach day blessed that gentle throng, and His beloved Son, Shaper\nof souls.  And God Himself was merciful to all who came within\nthat kingdom, and had believed in Him on earth.\n\n(ll. 245-247) \"But it seemed to me that the Prince was stern and\nhard of heart; and I began to go forth alone among the angels,\nand said unto them all:\n\n(ll. 248-253) \"'I can show you enduring counsel, if ye will trust\nmy strength.  Let us scorn this mighty Prince, the Lord of hosts,\nand possess us of the radiance of His glory to be our own.  For\nthis is empty boasting which we have borne so long.'\n\n\nVI\n\n(ll. 254-268) \"And so it was we strove to drive the Lord from His\ndear home, the King from out His city.  But widely is it known\nthat we must dwell in exile, in the grim depths of heil.  God\nholdeth His kingdom.  He only is the King, Eternal Lord, Creator\nstrong and mighty, whose anger smote us down.  Henceforth this\nhost must lie here in their sin, some flying in the air and\nspeeding over earth.  But round about each spirit fire burneth,\nthough he be up on high.  Yet may he never lay his hand upon\nthose souls who from the earth in blessedness seek heaven.  But I\nmay seize God's foes, all heathen slaves, and drag them down into\nthe pit.\n\n(ll. 269-278) \"Some must needs wander through all lands, sowing\ndissension in the tribes of men throughout the earth.  But I must\nsuffer all things, in the pangs of flame, sick and sorrowful,\nlamenting here my lost possessions, which once I owned, while\nstill my home was in the heavens.  Will the Eternal grant us ever\nagain a home and dwelling in the heavenly kingdom, as He did of\nold?\"\n\n(ll. 279-297) So wailed God's adversaries, as they burned in\nhell.  God, the Lord, was moved to wrath against them for their\nblasphemy.  Wherefore should every living man, whose heart is\ngood, resolve to banish sinful thoughts and loathsome evil.  Let\nus be ever mindful in our hearts of the Creator's might, and\nprepare a green path before us unto the angels.  There is\nAlmighty God, and the Son of God will fold us in His arms, if we\non earth take thought of this beforehand, and trust His holy\nhelp.  Then will He not forsake us, but will grant us life among\nthe angels, and blessed joy.  The radiant Lord will show us\nstable dwellings, and gleaming city-walls.  Brightly shine the\nsouls of the blessed, freed from sorrow, evermore possessing\ncities and a kingly throne.\n\n(ll. 297-314) O may we all proclaim it, ere it be too late, and\nrehearse it unto men upon the earth, unlock with skill the\nmysteries of God, and wisely understand them!  A thousand angels\nshall come out to meet us, if thitherward we take our way, and\nhave deserved this bliss on earth.  He shall be blessed whoso\nscorneth evil and is pleasing unto God, overcoming sin as He hath\nsaid.  The righteous, crowned with beauty, in their Father's\nkingdom, shall shine like to the sun in the City of Refuge, where\ntheir Lord, the Father of mankind, shall fold them in His arms,\nand lovingly uplift them to the light of heaven, where they may\ndwell for ever with the King of glory, possessing joy of joys\nwith the Lord God, for ever and for ever without end.\n\n\nVII\n\n(ll. 315-333) Alas!  how rashly did the cursed fiend resolve to\ndisobey the King of heaven, the Comfort-bringing Father.  With\nvenom burned and blazed the floor of hell beneath the captive's\nfeet.  The fiends went howling through those windy halls, wailing\ntheir woe.  The sin and evil of that multitude were fiercely\npurged by fire.  Grievous their fate!  And their prince, who came\nthere first of all the host, was lettered fast in fire and flame;\nthat was unending torment!  For ever must his thanes inhabit\nthere that loathsome realm, nor ever in heaven above hear holy\njoy, where they had long had pleasant service with the angels;\nall good things had they lost, and might not dwell save in the\npit of hell, in that accursed hall where sounds of weeping are\nheard afar, gnashing of teeth and lamentation.\n\n(ll. 334-354) They have no hope but only frost and fire, torture\nand pain and swarming serpents, dragons and adders and a house of\ndarkness.  He who stood within twelve miles of hell might hear a\ngnashing of teeth, loud and full of woe.  God's adversaries\nwandered throughout hell, burning with flame above and below (on\nevery side was torture); oppressed with pain, bereft of joy, and\nshorn of glory, they bitterly lamented that ever they had planned\nto strip the Saviour of His heavenly kingdom, when they had their\nhome on high.  But He held rightfully the courts of heaven and\nHis holy throne.\n\n(ll. 355-364) No one is so cunning or so wise, or hath such\nunderstanding, save God alone, that he may describe the radiant\nlight of heaven; how, by the might of God, the sun there shineth\nround about that splendid host, where angels have eternal joy,\nand saints chant hymns before the face of God.  And there are\nblessed souls, who come from earth bearing in their bosoms\nfragrant blossoms and pleasant herbs--these are the words of\nGod.  The Father of mankind shall fold them in His arms, and with\nHis right hand bless them and lead them to the light, where they\nshall have eternal life, a heavenly home, a radiant city-dwelling,\nfor ever and for ever.  He shall have bliss whoso inclineth to\nobey his Saviour.  Well shall it be with him who may obtain it!\n\n\nVIII\n\nTHE HARROWING OF HELL\n\n(ll. 365-376) Within God's kingdom in the days of old the angel\nprince was called \"Light-bearer,\" Lucifer.  But he stirred up\nstrife in heaven and turned to insolence and pride.  Darkly Satan\nplanned to build a lofty throne in heaven, with the Eternal God.\nHe was their lord, the prince of evil.  But he repented when he\nneeds must sink to hell, and with his thanes must feel the\nSaviour's wrath; never thereafter might they look upon Eternal\nGod for ever.\n\n(ll. 377-384) Then terror came upon them, and crashing thunder\nwent before the Judge, who bowed and burst the doors of hell.\nAnd bliss came unto men when they beheld their Saviour's face.\nBut the hearts of that doomed folk, that dread host named\naforetime, were sore afraid.  They were smitten with terror\nthroughout their windy hall, and wailed aloud:\n\n(ll. 385-397) \"Bitter is this Storm that burst upon us, the Angel\nPrince, the Warrior with His legions.  Before Him shineth a\nfairer light than ever our eyes beheld, save when we dwelt in\nheaven among the angels.  Now will He end, by power of His glory,\nthe torment we inflict.  Lo! this Terror cometh, with thunders\nbefore the face of God, and soon this wretched throng shall know\naffliction.  It is the Son of God, the Lord of angels.  He\nleadeth souls up out of hell, and we shall be abased hereafter by\nHis avenging wrath.\"\n\n(ll. 398-407) By His might the Lord descended into hell, unto the\nsons of men.  For He was fain to lead forth countless thousands\nto their native home.  Then came the sound of angel legions, and\nthunder at the blush of dawn.  The Lord Himself had overcome the\nFiend; the deadly strife began at dawn when the terror fell upon\nthem.  He let the blessed souls, the race of Adam, mount upward\nunto heaven.  Yet Eve might not see heaven until she spake:\n\n(ll. 408-419) \"I, only, brought Thy wrath upon us, Eternal Lord,\nwhen we two ate the apple through the serpent's guile, Adam and\nI, as we should not have done.  The fiend, who now doth burn for\never in his bonds, told us that so we should have blessing and a\nholy home, and heaven to rule.  And we believed the words of the\nAccursed, and stretched our hands unto the holy tree and plucked\nits shining fruit.  Bitter the price we paid, when we must needs\nsink downward to this flaming pit, and there abide for many\nthousand winters, dreadfully burning.\n\n(ll. 420-434) \"Now I beseech Thee, Lord of heaven, by this host,\nthe angel legions which Thou leadest hither, that I may be\ndelivered out of hell, with all my kindred.  Three nights ago a\nservant of the Saviour came to hell.  Now is he fast in bondage,\nspent with pain, for the King of glory was incensed against him\nbecause of his presumption.  Thou saidest unto us in truth that\nGod Himself would come to all who dwell in hell.  Then everyone\narose, and leaned upon his arm, and rested on his hand; though\nracked with pangs of hell, yet in their torment they rejoiced\nbecause their Lord was coming unto hell to bring them aid.\"\n\n(ll. 435-440) And she lifted up her hands unto the King of\nheaven, beseeching mercy of the Lord for Mary's sake: \"Lo!  Of my\ndaughter wast Thou born, O Lord, to help mankind on earth.  Now\nis it seen that Thou art God indeed, the Everlasting Source of\nall creation.\"\n\n\nIX\n\n(ll. 441-454) Then the Eternal Lord let all that host mount\nupward unto glory.  But on the fiends He fastened bonds of\ntorment, and thrust them down into the depths of darkness,\nbitterly abashed, where darkly Satan rules, a woeful wretch, and\nwith him the foul fiends, forspent with pain.  Never may they see\nthe light of glory, but only bell's abyss, nor ever hope for\ntheir return, because the Lord God was incensed against them, and\ngave them bonds of torment for their portion, and gruesome\nhorror, death-shadows dark and dim, the burning pit of hell, and\nfear of death.\n\n(ll. 455-467) Then was there gladness when the host returned unto\ntheir native home, and with them the Eternal Lord of men, unto\nHis glorious city.  With their hands the race of Abraham, the\nholy prophets, bore Him up unto His home.  Even as the prophets\nhad foretold in days of old, the Lord had conquered death, and\novercome the Fiend.  All this befell at dawn before the blush of\nday, when thunder came, loud crashing from the heavens, and God\nbowed down and brake the doors of hell.  The fiends' strength\nlessened when they saw the radiant light.\n\n(ll. 468-478) And the Son of God was sitting with His host, and\nspake with words of truth: \"Wise spirits!  By My might I wrought\nyou--first Adam and this noble woman.  And they begat, by God's\nwill, forty children, so that a multitude were born thereafter on\nthe earth, and many a winter men dwelt in their home, until it\ncame to pass the fiend by deeds of evil brought God's mercy to an\nend.  Now sin has spread through all the world!\n\n(ll. 479-486) \"For in the new Paradise I placed a tree with\nspreading branches, whose boughs bore apples, and ye two ate the\ngleaming fruit according as the fiend, the thane of hell, gave\nbidding.  Wherefore ye journeyed to the burning depths of hell,\nbecause ye disobeyed the word of God, and tasted of this horror.\nThe foul fiend stood beside you, and gave you evil thoughts.\n\n(ll. 487-498) \"But My heart repented that My handiwork should\nsuffer prison-bondage!  There was no power of men, nor might of\nangels, no work of the prophets, nor wisdom of mortal men, that\ncould bring you help, but only God, the Saviour, who had ordained\nthat punishment in vengeance.  And from His home on high He came\nto earth, being born of a virgin, and suffered many tortures in\nthe world, and much affliction.  And many men, the rulers of the\nstate, conspired against Me night and day, how they might slay\nMe.\n\n(ll. 499-511) \"Then was the time fulfilled, and I had lived for\nthree-and-thirty winters in the world before My passion.  Long\nwas I mindful of this multitude and of My home, that I might lead\nthem up from bondage to their native land, where they may have\nGod's judgments, and the glory of the heavenly hosts, dwelling in\njoy and knowing bliss of heaven, a thousand fold.  Upon the\ncross, when sharp spears pierced Me, and the young man smote Me,\nhanging on the tree, yea!  even then I interceded for you; and I\ncame again unto eternal joys, and to the presence of the Holy\nLord.\"\n\n\nX\n\n(ll. 512-523) Thus spake the Lord of glory, Maker of mankind,\nearly in the morning when the Lord God rose from death.  There\nwas no stone so firmly fastened, though it were bound about with\niron, that might withstand His wondrous might; but the Lord of\nangels went forth from His prison, and bade bright angels tell\nHis eleven disciples, and say especially to Simon Peter that he\nmight see God, Steadfast and Eternal, in Galilee, as he had done\naforetime.\n\n(ll. 524-534) Then the disciples, as I have heard, were filled\nwith the Spirit, and went together into Galilee unto the Holy Son\nof God, beholding where the Son of the Creator, the Eternal Lord,\nwas risen.  And the disciples ran and came where the Eternal Lord\nwas standing, and fell upon the ground, and knelt before His\nfeet, giving thanks to God because once more, as it was come to\npass, they might behold the Prince of angels.  And straightway\nSimon Peter spake:\n\n(ll. 535-539) \"Is it Thou, O Lord God, crowned with glory?  A\nlittle while ago we saw how heathen men laid grievous bonds upon\nThee!  And bitterly shall they repent, when they behold their\nend.\"\n\n(ll. 540-556) But some could not believe it in their hearts.  And\none, called Didymus, was dear before he laid his hand upon his\nSaviour's side wherefrom His blood had fallen to the ground, a\nbath of baptism.  That was a glorious deed, the passion of the\nLord our God.  He mounted up upon the tree, and with His great\nheart shed His blood upon the cross.  Wherefore at all times men\nshould thank their Lord by words and works, because He led us out\nof bondage to our home and native land, where we may have God's\njudgments and the glory of the heavenly host, and dwell in joy.\nTo us the radiant light of glory is revealed, to such as have\ngood thoughts.\n\n\nXI\n\n(ll. 557-567) Then was the Lord Eternal forty days on earth,\nfollowed of the people and revealed to men, before the Prince of\ncity-dwellers brought the Holy Spirit to the great creation, the\nheavenly kingdom.  The King of angels and the Lord of hosts\nascended up on high.  Then came celestial melodies in holiness\nfrom heaven.  The hand of God appeared and He received the\nPrince; the Lord of heaven led Him to His holy home.  And round\nabout Him throngs of angels flew in thousands.\n\n(ll. 568-578) And it befell, while yet the Saviour Christ abode\nwith men, that on the night before the last He strengthened with\nHis spirit His disciples, the twelve apostles.  The Living God\nordained unnumbered souls.  Of these was Judas, who betrayed the\nGlorious Lord, our Saviour, to be a sacrifice.  Little did that\nundertaking prosper when he sold the Son of God for silver\ntreasure.  The foul fiend gave him grim requital, deep in hell.\n\n(ll. 579-596) The Son now sitteth on the right hand of the\nFather; each day the Lord of hosts giveth help and healing to the\nsons of men throughout the earth.  Full widely is it known to\nmany men that He alone, by power of His glory, is Maker and Ruler\nof all created things.  The Holy Lord of angels sitteth with the\nprophets in heaven above; the Son of glory hath His throne amid\nthe heavens, and by His healing leadeth us up thither to the\nlight, where we may sit with God on high among the angels, and\nhave that radiance where His holy host now dwelleth, and live in\njoy.  There is the blessedness of glory radiantly revealed!  Let\nus take thought to serve the Saviour gladly and be pleasing unto\nChrist!  There is more glorious life than we may ever gain on\nearth.\n\n\nXII\n\n(ll. 597-607) Now hath the Great Prince, the Almighty Lord, made\nintercession for us.  On the day of doom God biddeth the\narchangels, with a mighty blast, to sound the trumpet over the\ncity-dwellings, through all the borders of the world.  Then shall\nmen wake from the earth; the dead shall arise from the dust,\nthrough the might of God.  Longest of days shall that be,\ngreatest of tumults, heard afar, when the Saviour cometh, the\nLord, with clouds surrounded, descending upon earth.\n\n(ll. 608-615) Then will He separate the fair and foul, the good\nand evil, into two companies.  And the righteous shall mount to\ntheir rest at the right hand of God, they shall be blithe as they\nenter the city, the kingdom of God.  With His right hand the Lord\nof creation shall bless them, and say before all:\n\n(ll. 615-618) \"Ye are welcome!  Enter now the heavenly kingdom,\ninto the light of glory.  There shall ye rest for ever without\nend.\"\n\n(ll. 619-625) But the guilty souls that have sinned shall stand\nand tremble when the Son of God shall judge them by His wondrous\nmight; they shall hope they may ascend to that fair city with the\nangels, as the others did.  But the Eternal Lord shall speak to\nthem, and say before them all:\n\n(ll. 626-627) \"Descend now quickly, ye accursed, into the house\nof pain.  I know you not.\"\n\n(ll. 628-646) And straightway at these words hell's captives,\ncursed spirits, shall drag them down by thousands, leading them\nthither to the home of fiends, and thrust them deep down in the\nnarrow pit.  Never may they return, but there they needs must\nsuffer torturing pain, imprisonment, and bonds, and the cold\nground, endure the depths of hell and devils' discourse, black\nfiends with hate reviling them for sin, because they often have\nforgot the Lord, Eternal God, who should have been their hope.\nWherefore let us resolve while in the world to serve the Saviour\ngladly by God's grace, be mindful of the spirit's joy, and how\nthe blessed sons of God abide on high in radiant glory.\n\n(ll. 647-655) There is a golden gate adorned with gems,\nenwreathed with joy, for those who enter in God's kingdom, and\nwin the light of glory.  About the walls stand radiant angel\nspirits and blessed souls who pass from earth to heaven.  There\nare martyrs pleasing unto God, and patriarchs with holy voices\npraising God, the King within His city, saying:\n\n(ll. 656-658) \"Thou art the Lord of men, the Heavenly Judge and\nPrince of angels!  Thou hast led the sons of earth unto this\nblessed home!\"\n\n(ll 659-662) So the thanes about their Prince shall praise the\nLord of glory.  There shall be song and splendour round His\nthrone.  For He is King indeed, and Lord of all things in the\neternal creation!\n\n\nTHE TEMPTATION\n\n(ll. 663-673) He is the Lord, the Prince of angels, who died for\nus; and, in the fullness of His mercy, the Maker of mankind once\nfasted forty days.  And it came to pass that the Accursed Fiend,\nwho was driven out of heaven and sank to hell, tempted the Lord\nof all creation, bringing in his arms great stones, and bidding\nHim make loaves to stay His hunger, \"if Thou have so much power.\"\nBut the Eternal Lord made answer unto him:\n\n(ll. 674-675) \"Knowest thou not, accursed, it was written....\"\n\n((LACUNA of indeterminate length.))\n\n(ll. 676-678) \"....save Me alone?  But Thou, O Lord of victory,\nhast ordained the light for living souls, reward unending in the\nheavenly kingdom, and holy joys.\"\n\n(ll. 679-682) Then the malicious, evil spirit in derision lifted\nHim up in his hands, and set Him upon his shoulder, and ascended\na high mountain, and placed the Lord God on a peak thereof:\n\n(ll. 683-688) \"Gaze now full widely over the dwellers of earth.\nThe world and the inhabitants thereof will I give into Thy hand.\nTake now from me the city and the shining home which I will give\nThee in the heavenly kingdom, that Thou mayest truly be the King\nof men and angels, as Thou hast thought.\"\n\n(ll. 689-709) Then answered the Eternal Lord: \"Depart, thou\ncursed Satan, into the house of pain; for thee is punishment\nprepared, and not God's kingdom.  By most high might I bid thee\nbring no hope to such as dwell in hell, but tell them now of\nthis, thy greatest woe, that thou hast met the Maker of creation,\nthe Lord of men.  Get thee behind Me!  Know, accursed fiend, how\nmeasureless and wide and dreary is the pit of hell!  Measure it\nwith thy hands, take hold upon its bottom.  Go, then, until thou\nknowest all the circle of it; measure it first from above even\nunto the abyss.  Measure how broad the black mist stretches.\nThen shalt thou know more clearly that thou strivest against God,\nwhen thou hast measured with thy hands how high and deep is hell,\nthe grim grave-house, within.  Go quickly, that thou measure, ere\ntwo hours are past, the home allotted thee.\"\n\n(ll. 710-728) Then vengeance came upon the fiend.  Satan, the\ncursed monster, fled away and sank to hell.  And first he\nmeasured with his hands its torment and its woe.  The black flame\nleaped against the evil spirit; and he beheld the captives as\nthey lay in hell.  And there rose a howling throughout hell, when\ntheir eyes fell on the fiend.  God's foes had striven... the\nblack evil spirit, so that he stood upon the floor of hell, and\nit seemed to him that from the pit to the doors of hell was an\nhundred thousand miles in reckoning, as the Almighty Lord had\nbidden him, for his sin, to measure all his torment.  And he\nremembered as he stood in the depths of hell!  The foul fiend\nwith his eyes gazed through the loathsome den, until its\noverwhelming horror, the host of devils... then mounted up...\nWith words of malice the accursed fiends began to speak and say:\n\n(ll. 728-730) \"Lo! thus may evil be upon thee always!  Thou didst\nnot wish for good!\"\n\n\n\nFINIT LIBER II.  AMEN.","title":"Codex Junius 11","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":38384}