Gildas, Surnamed: "SAPIENS," OR THE WISE (c.500-570): The Ruin of Britain

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III. THE EPISTLE.

27. BRITAIN has kings, but they are tyrants; she has judges, but
unrighteous ones; generally engaged in plunder and rapine, but
always preying on the innocent; whenever they exert themselves to
avenge or protect, it is sure to be in favour of robbers and
criminals; they have an abundance of wives, yet are they addicted
to fornication and adultery; they are ever ready to take oaths,
and as often perjure themselves; they make a vow and almost
immediately act falsely; they make war, but their wars are against
their countrymen, and are unjust ones; they rigorously prosecute
thieves throughout their country, but those who sit at table with
them are robbers, and they not only cherish but reward them; they
give alms plentifully, but in contrast to this is a whole pile of
crimes which they have committed; they sit on the seat of justice,
but rarely seek for the rule of right judgment; they despise the
innocent and the humble, but seize every occasion of exalting to
the utmost the bloody-minded; the proud, murderers, the combined
and adulterers, enemies of God, who ought to be utterly destroyed
and their names forgotten.

They have many prisoners in their gaols, loaded with chains, but
this is done in treachery rather than in just punishment for
crimes; and when they have stood before the altar, swearing by the
name of God, they go away and think no more of the holy altar than
if it were a mere heap of dirty stones.

28. Of this horrid abomination, Constantine, the tyrannical whelp
of the unclean lioness of Damnonia, is not ignorant.

This same year, after taking a dreadful oath (whereby he bound
himself first before God, by a solemn protestation, and then
called all the saints, and Mother of God, to witness, that he
would not contrive any deceit against his countrymen), he
nevertheless, in the habit of a holy abbat amid the sacred altars,
did with sword and javelin, as if with teeth, wound and tear, even
in the bosoms of their temporal mother, and of the church their
spiritual mother, two royal youths, with their two attendants,
whose arms, although not eased in armour, were yet boldly used,
and, stretched out towards God and his altar, will hang up at the
gates of thy city, O Christ, the venerable ensigns of their faith
and patience; and when he had done it, the cloaks, red with
coagulated blood, did touch the place of the heavenly sacrifice.
And not one worthy act could he boast of previous to this cruel
deed; for many years before he had stained himself with the
abomination of many adulteries, having put away his wife contrary
to the command of Christ, the teacher of the world, who hath said:
"What God hath joined together, let not man separate," and again:
"Husbands, love your wives." For he had planted in the ground of
his heart (an unfruitful soil for any good seed) a bitter scion of
incredulity and folly, taken from the vine of Sodom, which being
watered with his vulgar and domestic impieties, like poisonous
showers, and afterwards audaciously springing up to the offence of
God, brought forth into the world the sin of horrible murder and
sacrilege; and not yet discharged from the entangling nets of his
former offences, he added new wickedness to the former.

29. Go to now, I reprove thee as present, whom I know as yet to be
in this life extant. Why standest thou astonished, O thou butcher
of shine own soul? Why cost thou wilfully kindle against thyself
the eternal fires of hell? Why cost thou, in place of enemies,
desperately stab thyself with shine own sword, with shine own
javelin? Cannot those same poisonous cups of offences yet satisfy
thy stomach? I look back (I beseech thee) and come to Christ (for
thou labourest, and art pressed down to the earth with this huge
burden), and he himself, as he said, will give thee rest. Come to
him who wisheth not the death of a sinner, but that he should be
rather converted and live. Unloose (according to the prophet) the
bands of thy neck, O thou son of Sion. Return (I pray thee),
although from the far remote regions of sins, unto the most holy
Father, who, for his son that will despise the filthy food of
swine, and fear a death of cruel famine, and so come back to him
again, hath with great joy been accustomed to kill his fatted
calf, and bring forth for the wanderer, the first robe and royal
ring, and then taking as it were a taste of the heavenly hope,
thou shalt perceive how sweet our Lord is. For if thou cost
contemn these, be thou assured, thou shalt almost instantly be
tossed and tormented in the inevitable and dark floods of endless
fire.

30. What cost thou also, thou lion's whelp (as the prophet saith),
Aurelius Conanus? Art not thou as the former (if not far more
foul) to thy utter destruction, swallowed up in the filthiness of
horrible murders, fornications, and adulteries, as by an
overwhelming flood of the sea? Hast not thou by hating, as a
deadly serpent, the peace of thy country, and thirsting unjustly
after civil wars and frequent spoil, shut the gates of heavenly
peace and repose against thine own soul? Being now left alone as a
withering tree in the midst of a field, remember (I beseech thee)
the vain and idle fancies of thy parents and brethren, together
with the untimely death that befell them in the prime of their
youth; and shalt thou, for thy religious deserts, be reserved out
of all thy family to live a hundred years, or to attain to the age
of a Methusalem? No, surely, but unless (as the psalmist saith)
thou shalt be speedily converted unto our Lord, that King will
shortly brandish his sword against thee, who hath said by his
prophet, "I will kill, and I will cause to live; I will strike,
and I will heal; and there is no one who can deliver out of my
hand." Be thou therefore shaken out of thy filthy dust, and with
all thy heart converted to Him who hath created thee, that "when
his wrath shall shortly burn out, thou mayst be blessed by fixing
thy hopes on him." But if otherwise, eternal pains will be heaped
up for thee, where thou shalt be ever tormented and never consumed
in the cruel jaws of hell.

31. Thou also, who like to the spotted leopard, art diverse in
manners and in mischief, whose head now is growing grey, who art
seated on a throne full of deceits, and from the bottom even to
the top art stained with murder and adulteries, thou naughty son
of a good king, like Manasses sprung from Ezechiah, Vortipore,
thou foolish tyrant of the Demetians, why art thou so stiff? What!
do not such violent gulfs of sin (which thou dost swallow up like
pleasant wine, nay rather which swallow thee up), as yet satisfy
thee, especially since the end of thy life is daily now
approaching? Why cost thou heavily clog thy miserable soul with
the sin of lust, which is fouler than any other, by putting away
thy wife, and after her honourable death, by the base practices of
thy shameless daughter? Waste not (I beseech thee) the residue of
thy life in offending God, because as yet an acceptable time and
day of salvation shines on the faces of the penitent, wherein thou
mayest take care that thy flight may not be in the winter, or on
the sabbath day. "Turn away (according to the psalmist) from evil,
and do good, seek peace and ensue it," because the eyes of our
Lord will be cast upon thee, when thou doest righteousness, and
his ears will be then open unto thy prayers, and he will not
destroy thy memory out of the land of the living; thou shalt cry,
and he will hear thee, and out of thy tribulations deliver thee;
for Christ cloth never despise a heart that is contrite and
humbled with fear of him. Otherwise, the worm of thy torture shall
not die, and the fire of thy burning shall never be extinguished.

32 And thou too, Cuneglasse, why art thou fallen into the filth of
thy former naughtiness, yea, since the very first spring of thy
tender youth, thou bear, thou rider and ruler of many, and guider
of the chariot which is the receptacle of the bear, thou contemner
of God, and vilifier of his order, thou tawny butcher, as in the
Latin tongue thy name signifies. Why dost thou raise so great a
war as well against men as also against God himself, against men,
yea, thy own countrymen, with thy deadly weapons, and against God
with thine infinite offences? Why, besides thine other innumerable
backslidings, having thrown out of doors thy wife, dost thou, in
the lust, or rather stupidity of thy mind, against the apostle's
express prohibition, denouncing that no adulterers can be
partakers of the kingdom of heaven, esteem her detestable sister,
who had vowed unto God the everlasting contineney, as the very
dower (in the language of the poet) of the celestial nymphs? Why
cost thou provoke with thy frequent injuries the lamentations and
sighs of saints, by thy means corporally afflicted, which will in
time to come, like a fierce lioness, break thy bones in pieces?
Desist, I beseech thee (as the prophet saith) from wrath, and
leave off thy deadly fury, which thou breathest out against heaven
and earth, against God and his flock, and which in time wil1 be
thy own torment; rather with altered mind obtain the prayers of
those who possess a power of binding over this world, when in this
world they bind the guilty, and of loosing when they loose the
penitent. Be not (as the apostle saith) proudly wise, nor hope
thou in the uncertainty of riches, but in God who giveth thee many
things abundantly, and by the amendment of thy manners purchase
unto thyself a good foundation for hereafter, and seek to enter
into that real and true state of existence which will be not
transitory but everlasting. Otherwise, thou shalt know and see,
yea, in this very world, how bad and bitter a thing it is for thee
to leave the Lord thy God, and not have his fear before shine
eyes, and in the next, how thou shalt be burned in the foul
encompassing flames of endless fire, nor yet by any manner of
means shalt ever die. For the souls of the sinful are as eternal
in perpetual fire, as the souls of the just in perpetual joy and
gladness.

33. And likewise, O thou dragon of the island, who hast deprived
many tyrants, as well of their kingdoms as of their lives, and
though the last-mentioned in my writing, the first in mischief,
exceeding many in power, and also in malice, more liberal than
others in giving, more licentious in sinning, strong in arms, but
stronger in working thine own soul's destruction, Maglocune, why
art thou (as if soaked in the wine of the Sodomitical grape)
foolishly rolling in that black pool of shine offences? Why dost
thou wilfully heap like a mountain, upon thy kingly shoulders,
such a load of sins? Why dost thou show thyself unto the King of
kings who hath made thee as well in kingdom as in stature of body
higher than almost all the other chiefs of Britain) not better
likewise in virtues than the rest; but on the contrary for thy
sins much worse? Listen then awhile and hear patiently the
following enumeration of thy deeds, wherein I will not touch any
domestic and light offences (if yet any of them are light) but
only those open ones which are spread far and wide in the
knowledge of all men. Didst not thou, in the very beginning of thy
youth, terribly oppress with sword, spear, and fire, the king
shine uncle, together with his courageous bands of soldiers, whose
countenances in battle were not unlike those of young lions? Not
regarding the words of the prophet, who says, "The blood-thirsty
and deceitful men shall not live out half their days," and even if
the sequel of thy sins were not such as ensued, yet what
retribution couldst thou expect for this offence only at the hands
of the just Judge, who hath said by his prophet: "Woe be to thee
who spoilest, and shalt not thou thyself be spoiled? and thou who
killest, shalt not thyself be killed? and when thou shalt make an
end of thy spoiling, then shalt thou thyself fall."

34. But when the imagination of thy violent rule had succeeded
according to thy wishes, and thou west urged by a desire to return
into the right way, night and day the consciousness of thy crimes
afflicted thee, whilst thou didst ruminate on the Lord's ritual
and the ordinances of the monks, and then publish to the world and
vow thyself before God a monk with no intention to be unfaithful,
as thou didst say, having burst through those toils in which such
great beasts as thyself were used to become entangled, whether it
were love of rule, of gold, or silver, or, what is stronger still,
the fancies of thy own heart. And didst thou not, as a dove which
cleaves the yielding air with its pinions, and by its rapid turns
escapes the furious hawk, safely return to the cells where the
saints repose, as a most certain place of refuge? Oh how great a
joy should it have been to our mother church, if the enemy of all
mankind had not lamentably pulled thee, as it were, out of her
bosom! Oh what an abundant flame of heavenly hope would have been
kindled in the hearts of desperate sinners, hadst thou remained in
thy blessed estate! Oh what great rewards in the kingdom of Christ
would have been laid up for thy soul against the day of judgment,
if that crafty wolf had not caught thee, who of a wolf wast now
become a lamb (not much against thine own will) out of the fold of
our Lord, and made thee of a lamb, a wolf like unto himself,
again? Oh how great a joy would the preservation of thy salvation
have been to God the Father of all saints had not the devil, the
father of all castaways, as an eagle of monstrous wings and claws,
carried I thee captive away against all right and reason, to the
unhappy band of his children? And to be short, thy conversion to
righteousness gave as great joy to heaven and earth, as now thy
detestable return, like a dog to his vomit, breedeth grief and
lamentation: which being done, "the members which should have been
busily employed, as the armour of justice for the Lord, are now
become the armour of iniquity for sin and the devil;" for now thou
dost not listen to the praises of God sweetly sounded forth by the
pleasant voices of Christ's soldiers, nor the instruments of
ecclesiastical melody, but thy own praises (which are nothing)
rung out after the fashion of the giddy rout of Bacchus by the
mouths of thy villainous followers, accompanied with lies and
malice, to the utter destruction of the neighbours, so that the
vessel prepared for the service of God, is now turned to a vessel
of dirt, and what was once reputed worthy of heavenly honour, is
now cast as it deserves into the bottomless pit of hell.

35. Yet neither is thy sensual mind (which is overcome by the
excess of thy follies) at all checked in its course with
committing so many sins, but hot and prone (like a young colt that
coveteth every pleasant pasture) runneth headlong forward, with
irrecoverable fury, through the intended fields of crime,
continually increasing the number of its transgressions. For the
former marriage of thy first wife (although after thy violated vow
of religion she was not lawfully thine, but only by right of the
time she was with thee), was now despised by thee, and another
woman, the wife of a man then living, and he no stranger, but thy
own: brother's son, enjoyed thy affections. Upon which occasion
that stiff neck of thine (already laden with sins) is now burdened
with two monstrous murders, the one of thy aforesaid nephew, the
other, of her who once was thy wedded wife: and thou art now from
low to lower, and from bad to worse, bowed, bent, and sunk down
into the lowest depth of sacrilege. Afterwards, also didst thou
publicly marry the widow by whose deceit and suggestion such a
heavy weight of offences was undergone, and take her, lawfully, as
the flattering tongues of thy parasites with false words
pronounced it, but as we say, most wickedly, to be thine own in
wedlock. And therefore what holy man is there, who, moved with the
narration of such a history, would not presently break out into
weeping and lamentations? What priest (whose heart lieth open unto
God) would not instantly, upon hearing this, exclaim with anguish
in the language of the prophet: "Who shall give water to my head,
and to my eyes a fountain of tears, and I will day and night
bewail those of my people, who are slaughtered." For full little
(alas!) hast thou with thine ears listened to that reprehension of
the prophet speaking in this wise: "Woe be unto you, O wicked men,
who have left the law of the most holy God, and if ye shall be
born, your portion shall be to malediction, and if ye die, to
malediction shall be your portion, all things that are from the
earth, to the earth shall be converted again, so shall the wicked
from malediction pass to perdition:" if they return not unto our
Lord, listening to this admonition: "Son, thou hast offended; add
no further offence thereunto, but rather pray for the forgiveness
of the former." And again, "Be not slow to be converted unto our
Lord, neither put off the same from day to day, for his wrath doth
come suddenly." Because, as the Scripture saith, "When the king
heareth the unjust word, all under his dominion become wicked."
And, the just king (according to the prophet) raiseth up his
region. But warnings truly are not wanting to thee, since thou
hast had for thy instructor the most eloquent master of almost all
Britain. Take heed, thereof, lest that which Solomon noteth,
befall thee, which is, "Even as he who stirreth up a sleeping man
out of his heavy sleep, so is that person who declareth wisdom
unto a fool, for in the end of his speech will he say, What hast
thou first spoken? Wash thine heart (as it is written) from
malice, O Jerusalem, that thou mayest be saved." Despise not (I
beseech thee) the unspeakable mercy of God, calling by his prophet
the wicked in this way from their offences: "I will on a sudden
speak to the nation, and to the kingdom, that I may root out, and
disperse, and destroy, and overthrow." As for the sinner he doth
in this wise exhort him vehemently to repent. "And if the same
people shall repent from their offence, I will also repent of the
evil which I have said that I would do unto them." And again, "Who
will give them such an heart, that they may hear me, and keep my
commandments, and that it may be well with them all the days of
their lives." And also in the Canticle of Deuteronomy, "A people
without counsel and prudence, I wish they would be wise, and
understand, and foresee the last of all, how one pursueth a
thousand and two put to flight ten thousand." And again, our Lord
in the gospel, "Come unto me, all ye who do labour and are
burdened, and I will make you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and
learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart, and ye shall
find repose for your souls." For if thou turn a deaf ear to these
admonitions, contemn the prophets, and despise Christ, and make no
account of us, humble though we be, so long as with sincere piety
and purity of mind we bear in mind that saying of the prophet,
that we may not be found, "Dumb dogs, not able to bark;" (however
I for my part may not be of that singular fortitude in the spirit
and virtue of our Lord, as to declare, "To the house of Jacob
their sins, and the house of Israel their offences;") and so long
as we shall remember that of Solomon, "He who says that the wicked
are just, shall be accursed among the people, and odious to
nations, for they who reprove them shall have better hopes." And
again, "Respect, not with reverence thy neighbour in his ruin, nor
forbear to speak in time of salvation." And as long also as we
forget not this, "Root out those who are led to death, and forbear
not to redeem them who are murdered;" because, as the same prophet
says, "Riches shall not profit in the day of wrath, but justice
delivereth from death." And, "If the just indeed be hardly saved,
where shall the wicked and sinner appear? If as I said, thou scorn
us, who obey these texts, the dark flood of hell shall without
doubt eternally drown thee in that deadly whirlpool, and those
terrible streams of fire that shall ever torment and never consume
thee, and then shall the confession of thy pains and sorrow for
thy sins be altogether too late and unprofitable to one, who now
in this accepted time and day of salvation deferreth his
conversion to a more righteous way of life.

37. And here, indeed, if not before, was this lamentable history
of the miseries of our time to have been brought to a conclusion,
that I might no further discourse of the deeds of men; but that I
may not be thought timid or weary, whereby I might the less
carefully avoid that saying of Isaiah, "Woe be to them who call
good evil, and evil good placing darkness for light, and light for
darkness, bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter, who seeing see
not, and hearing hear not, whose hearts are overshadowed with a
thick and black cloud of vices; "I will briefly set down the
threatenings which are denounced against these five aforesaid
lascivious horses, the frantic followers of Pharaoh, through whom
his army is wilfully urged forward to their utter destruction in
the Red Sea, and also against such others, by the sacred oracles,
with whose holy testimonies the frame of this our little work is,
as it were, roofed in, that it may not be subject to the showers
of the envious, which otherwise would be poured thereon. Let,
therefore, God's holy prophets, who are to mortal men the mouth of
God, and the organ of the Holy Ghost, forbidding evils, and
favouring goodness, answer for us as well now as formerly, against
the stubborn and proud princes of this our age, that they may not
say we menace them with such threats, and such great terrors of
our own invention only, and with rash and over-zealous meddling.
For to no wise man is it doubtful how far more grievous the sins
of this our time are than those of the primitive age, when the
apostle said, "Any one transgressing the law, being convicted by
two or three witnesses, shall die, how much worse punishment think
ye then that he deserveth, who shall trample under his foot the
Son of God?"

38. And first of all appears before us, Samuel, by God's
commandment, the establisher of a lawful kingdom, dedicated to God
before his birth, undoubtedly known by marvellous signs, to be a
true prophet unto all the people, from Dan even to Beersheba, out
of whose mouth the Holy Ghost thundereth to all the potentates of
the world, denouncing Saul the first king of the Hebrews, only
because he did not accomplish some matters commanded him of our
Lord, in these words which follow: "Thou hast done foolishly
neither yet hast thou kept the commandments of our Lord thy God,
that he hath given thee in charge; which if thou hadst not
committed, even now had our Lord prepared thy reign over Israel
for ever, but thy kingdom shall no farther arise." And what did he
commit, whether it were adultery or murder, like to the offences
of the present time? No, truly, but broke in part one of God's
commandments, for, as one of our writers says, "The question is
not of the quality of the sin, but of the violating of the
precept." Also when he endeavoured to answer (as he thought): the
objections of Samuel, and after the fashion of men wisely to make
excuses for his offence in this manner: "Yea, I have obeyed the
voice of our Lord, and walked in the way I through which he hath
sent me;" with this rebuke was he corrected by him: "What! will
our Lord have burnt offerings or oblations, and not rather that
the voice of our Lord should be obeyed? Obedience is better than
oblations, and to hearken unto him, better than to offer the fat
of rams. For as it is the sin of soothsaying to resist, so is it
the offence of idolatry not to obey; in regard, therefore, that
thou hast cast away the word of our Lord, he hath also cast thee
away that thou be not king." And a little after, "Our Lord hath
this day rent the kingdom of Israel from thee, and delivered it up
to thy neighbour, a man better than thyself. The Triumpher of
Israel truly will not spare, and will not be bowed with
repentance, neither yet is he a man that he should repent;" that
is to say, upon the stony hearts of the wicked: wherein it is to
be noted how he saith, that to be disobedient unto God is the sin
of idolatry. Let not, therefore, our wicked transgressors (while
they do not openly sacrifice to the gods of the Gentiles) flatter
themselves that they are not idolaters, whilst they tread like
swine the most precious pearls of Christ under their feet.

39. But although this one example as an invincible affirmation
might abundantly suffice to correct the wicked; yet, that by the
mouths of many witnesses all the offences of Britain may be
proved, let us pass to the rest. What happened to David for
numbering his people, when the prophet had spake unto him in this
sort? Thus saith our Lord: "The choice of three things is offered
thee, choose which thou wilt, that I may execute it upon thee.
Shall there befall thee a famine for seven years, or shalt thou
flee three months before thine enemies, and they pursue thee, or
shall there be three days' pestilence in thy land?" For being
brought into great straits by this condition, and willing rather
to fall into the hands of God who is merciful, than into those of
men, he was humbled with the slaughter of seventy thousand of his
subjects, and unless with the affection of an apostolic charity,
he had desired to die himself for his countrymen, that the plague
might not further consume them, saying, "I am he that has
offended, I the shepherd have dealt unjustly: but these sheep,
what have they sinned? Let thy hand, I beseech thee, be turned
against me, and against the house of my father;" he would have
atoned for the unadvised pride of his heart with his own death.
For what does the scripture afterwards declare of his son? "And
Solomon wrought that which was not pleasing before our Lord, and
he did not fill up the measure of his good deeds by following the
Lord like his father David. And our Lord said unto him, Because
thou hast thus behaved thyself, and not observed my covenant and
precepts, which I have commanded thee, breaking it asunder; I will
divide thy kingdom, and give the same unto thy servant."

40. Hear now likewise what fell upon the two sacrilegious kings of
Israel (even such as ours are), Jeroboam and Baasha, unto whom the
sentence and doom of our Lord is by the prophet in this way
directed: "For what cause have I exalted thee a prince over
Israel, in regard that they have provoked me by their vanities.
Behold I will stir up after Baasha and after his house, and I will
give over his house as the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. Who
so of his blood shall die in the city, the dogs shall eat him, and
the dead carcass of him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of
the air eat." What cloth he also threaten unto that wicked king of
Israel, a worthy companion of the former, by whose collusion and
his wife's deceit, innocent Naboth was for his father's vineyard
put to death, when the holy mouth of Elias, yea, the selfsame
mouth that was instructed with the fiery speech of our Lord, thus
spake unto him: "Hast thou killed and also taken possession, and
after this wilt thou yet add more? Thus saith our Lord, in this
very place, wherein the dogs have licked the blood of Naboth, they
shall lick up thy blood also." Which fell out afterwards in that
very sort, as we have certain proof. But lest perchance (as befell
Ahab also) the lying spirit, which pronounceth vain things in the
mouths of your prophets may seduce you, hearken to the words of
the prophet Micaiah: "Behold God hath suffered the spirit of lying
to possess the mouths of all thy prophets that do here remain, and
our Lord hath pronounced evil against thee." For even now it is
certain that there are some teachers inspired with a contrary
spirit, preaching and affirming rather what is pleasing, however
depraved, than what is true: whose words are softer than oil, and
the same are darts, who say, peace, peace, and there shall be no
peace to them, who persevere in their sins, as says the prophet in
another place also, "It is not for the wicked to rejoice, saith
our Lord."

41. Azarias, also, the son of Obed, spoke unto Asa, who returned
from the slaughter of the army of ten hundred thousand Ethiopians,
saying, "Our Lord is with you while you remain with him, and if
you will seek him out, he will be found by you, and if you will
leave him, he will leave you also." For if Jehosaphat for only
assisting a wicked king, was thus reproved by the prophet Jehu,
the son of Ananias, saying, "If thou givest aid to a sinner, or
lovest them whom our Lord doth hate, the wrath of God doth
therefore hang over thee," what shall become of them who are
fettered in the snares of their own offences? whose sin we must of
necessity hate, if not their souls, if we wish to fight in the
army of the Lord, according to the words of the Psalmist, "Hate ye
evil, who love our Lord." What was said to Jehoram, the son of the
above-named Jehosaphat, that most horrible murderer (who being
himself a bastard, slew his noble brethren, that he might possess
the throne in their place, by the prophet Elias, who was the
chariot and charioteer of Israel? "Thus speaketh the Lord God of
thy father David. Because thou hast not walked in the way of thy
father Jehosaphat, and in the ways of Asa the king of Judah, but
hast walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and in adultery
according to the behaviour of the house of Ahab, and hast moreover
killed thy brethren, the sons of Jehosaphat, men far better than
thyself, behold, our Lord shall strike thee and thy children with
a mighty plague." And a little afterwards, "And thou shalt be very
sick of a disease of thy belly, until thy entrails shall, together
with the malady itself, from day to day, tome forth out of thee."
And listen also what the prophet Zachariah, the son of Jehoiades,
menaced to Joash, the king of Israel, when he abandoned our Lord
even as ye now do, and the prophet spoke in this manner to the
people: "Thus saith our Lord, Why do ye transgress the
commandments of our Lord and do not prosper? Because ye have left
our Lord, he will also leave you."

42. What shall I mention of Isaiah, the first and chief of the
prophets, who beginneth his prophecy, or rather vision, in this
way: "Hear, O ye heavens, and O thou earth conceive in shine ears,
because our Lord hath spoken, I have nourished children, and
exalted them, but they themselves have despised me. The ox hath
known his owner, and the ass his master's crib, but Israel hath
not known me, and my people hath not understood." And a little
further with threatenings answerable to so great a folly, he
saith, "The daughter of Sion shall be utterly left as a tabernacle
in the vineyard, and as a hovel in the cucumber garden, and a city
that is sacked." And especially, convening and accusing the
princes, he saith, "Hear the word of our Lord, O ye princes of
Sodom, perceive ye the law of our Lord, O ye people of Gomorrah."
Wherein it is to be noted, that unjust kings are termed the
princes of Sodom, for our Lord, forbidding sacrifices and gifts to
be offered to him by such persons, and seeing that we greedily
receive those offerings which in all nations are displeasing unto
God, and to our own destruction suffer them not to be bestowed on
the poor and needy, speak thus to them who, laden with riches, are
likewise given to offend on this head: "Offer no more your
sacrifice in vain, your incense is abomination unto me." And again
he denounceth them thus: "And when ye shall stretch out your
hands, I will turn away mine eyes from you, and when ye shall
multiply your prayers, I will not hear." And he declareth
wherefore he does this, saying, "Your hands are full of blood."
And likewise showing how he may be appeased, he says, "Be ye
washed, be ye clean, take away the evil of your thoughts from mine
eyes: cease to do evil, learn to do well: seek for judgment,
succour the oppressed, do justice to the pupil or orphan." And
then assuming as it were the part of a reconciling mediator, he
adds, "Though your sins shall be as scarlet, they shall be made
white as snow: though they shall be as red as the little worm,
they shall be as white as wool. If ye shall be willing to hear me,
ye shall feed on the good things of the land; but if ye will not,
but provoke me unto wrath, the sword shall devour you."

43. Receive ye the true and public avoucher, witnessing, without
any falsehood or flattery, the reward of your good and evil, not
like the soothing humble lips of your parasites, which whisper
poisons into your ears. And also directing, his sentence against
ravenous judges, he saith thus: "Thy princes are unfaithful,
companions of thieves, all love gifts, hunt after rewards: they do
no justice to the orphan, the widow's cause entereth not unto
them. For thus saith our Lord God of hosts, the strong one of
Israel, Alas, I will take consolation upon my foes, and be
revenged upon mine enemies; and the heinous sinners shall be
broken to powder, and offenders together with them, and all who
have left our Lord, shall be consumed." And afterwards, "The eyes
of the lofty man shall be brought low, and the height of men hath
bowed down." And again, "Woe be to the wicked, evil befall him,
for he shall be rewarded according to his handy-work." And a
little after, "Woe be unto you who arise early to follow
drunkenness, and to drink even to the very evening, that ye may
fume with wine. The harp, and the lyre, and the tabor, and the
pipe, and wine are in your banquets, and the work of our Lord ye
respect not, neither yet consider ye the works of his hands.
Therefore is my people led captive away, because they have not had
knowledge, and their nobles have perished with famine, and their
multitude hath withered away with thirst. Therefore hath hell
enlarged and dilated his spirit, and without measure opened his
mouth, and his strong ones, and his people, and his lofty and
glorious ones, shall descend down unto him." And afterwards, "Woe
be unto you who are mighty for the drinking of wine, and strong
men for the procuring of drunkenness, who justify the wicked for
rewards, and deprive the just man of his justice. For this cause
even as the tongue of the fire devoureth the stubble, and as the
heat of the flame burneth up, so shall their root be as the ashes,
and their branch shall rise up as the dust. For they have cast
away the law of our Lord of hosts, and despised the speech of the
holy one of Israel. In all these the fury of our Lord is not
turned away, but as yet his hand is stretched out."

44. And further on, speaking of the day of judgment and the
unspeakable fears of sinners, he says, "Howl ye, because the day
of our Lord is near at hand (if so near at that time, what shall
it now be thought to be?) for destruction shall proceed from God.
For this shall all hands be dissolved, and every man's heart shall
wither away, and be bruised; tortures and dolours shall hold them,
as a woman in labour so shall they be grieved, every man shall at
his neighbour stand astonished, burned faces shall be their
countenances. Behold, the day of our Lord shall come, fierce and
full of indignation, and of wrath, and fury, to turn the earth
into a desert, and break her sinners in small pieces from off her;
because the stars of heaven and the brightness of them, shall not
unfold their light, the sun in his rising shall be covered over
with darkness, and the moon shall not shine in her season; and I
will visit upon the evils of the world, and against the wicked,
their own iniquity, and I will make the pride of the unfaithful to
cease, and the arrogancy of the strong, I will bring low." And
again, "Behold our Lord will disperse the earth, and he will strip
her naked, and afflict her face, and scatter her inhabitants; and
as the people, so shall be the priest; and as the slave, so shall
be his lord; as the handmaid, so shall be her lady; as the
purchaser, so shall be the seller; as the usurer, so shall be he
that borroweth; as he who demandeth, so shall he be that oweth.
With dispersing shall the earth be scattered, and with sacking
shall she be spoiled. For our Lord hath spoken this word. The
earth hath bewailed, and hath flitted away; the world hath run to
nothing, she is weakened by her inhabitants, because they have
transgressed laws, changed right, brought to ruin tile eternal
truce. For this shall malediction devour the earth."

45. And afterwards, "They shall lament all of them who now in
heart rejoice, the delight of the timbrels hath ceased, the sound
of the gladsome shall be silent, the sweetness of the harp shall
be hushed, they shall not with singing drink their wine, bitter
shall be the potion to the drinkers thereof. The city of vanity is
wasted, every house is shut up, no man entering in; an outcry
shall be in the streets over the wine, all gladness is forsaken,
the joy of the land is transferred, solitariness is left in the
town, and calamity shall oppress the gates, because these things
shall be in the midst of the land, and in the midst of the
people." And a little further, "Swerving from the truth, they have
wandered out of the right way, with the straggling of
transgressors have they gone astray. Fear and intrapping falls,
and a snare upon thee who art the inhabitant of the earth. And it
shall come to pass: whoso shall flee from the voice of the fear,
shall tumble down into the intrapping pit; and whoso shall deliver
himself out of the downfall, shall be caught in the entangling
snare: because the food-gates from aloft shall be opened, and the
foundations of the earth shall be shaken. With bruising shall the
earth be broken, with commotion shall she be moved, with tossing
shall she be shaken like a drunken man, and she shall be taken
away as if she were a pavilion of one night's pitching, and her
iniquities shall hang heavy upon her, and she shall fall down, and
shall not attempt to rise again. And it shall be, that our Lord in
the same day shall look on the warfare of heaven on high, and on
the kings of the earth, who are upon the earth, and they shall be
gathered together in the bundle of one burden into the lake, and
shall there be shut up in prison, and after many days shall they
be visited. And the moon shall blush, and the sun be confounded,
when our Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Sion and in Jerusalem,
and be glorified in the sight of his seniors."

46. And after a while, giving a reason why he threateneth in that
sort, he says thus: "Behold the hand of our Lord is not shortened
that he cannot save, neither is his ear made heavy that he may not
hear. But your iniquities have divided between you and your God,
and your offences have hid his face from you, that he might not
hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with
iniquity: your lips have spoken lying, and your tongue uttereth
iniquity. There is none who calleth on justice, neither is there
he who judgeth truly, but they trust in nothing, and speak
vanities, and have conceived grief, and brought forth iniquity."
And a little after, "Their works are unprofitable, and the work of
iniquity is in their hands; their feet run into evil, and make
haste that they may shed the innocent blood; their thoughts are
unprofitable thoughts, spoil and confusion are in their ways, and
the way of peace they have not known, and in their steps there is
no judgment, their paths are made crooked unto them, every one who
treadeth in them is ignorant of peace; in this respect is judgment
removed far off from you, and justice taketh no hold on you." And
after a few words, "And judgment hath been turned back, and
justice hath stood afar oft, because truth hath fallen down in the
streets, and equity could not enter in; and truth is turned into
oblivion, and whoso hath departed from evil, hath lain open to
spoil. And our Lord hath seen, and it was not pleasing in his
eyes, because there is not judgment."

47. And thus far may it suffice among many, to have recited a few
sentences out of the prophet Isaiah.

But now with diligent ears hearken unto him, who was foreknown
before he was formed in the belly, sanctified before he came out
of the womb, and appointed a prophet in all nations: I mean
Jeremiah, and hear what he hath pronounced of foolish people and
cruel kings, beginning his prophecy in his mild and gentle manner.

"And the word of God was spoken unto me, saying, Go and cry in the
ears of Jerusalem, and thou shalt pronounce, Hear the word of our
Lord, thou house of Jacob, and all ye kindred of the house of
Israel: Thus saith our Lord; What iniquity have your fathers found
in me, who have been far removed from me, and walked after vanity,
and are become vain, and have not said, Where is he who made us go
up out of the land of Egypt?" And after a few words, "From the
beginning of thine age thou hast broken my yoke, violated my
bands, and said, I will not serve, I have planted thee my chosen
vine, all true seed. How art thou therefore converted into
naughtiness? O strange vine! If thou shalt wash thee with nitre,
and multiply unto thee the herb borith, thou art spotted in my
sight with thine iniquity, saith our Lord." And afterwards, "Why
will ye contend with me in judgment? Ye have all forsaken me,
saith our Lord in vain have I corrected your children, they have
not received discipline. Hear ye the word of our Lord. Am I made a
solitariness unto Israel, or a late bearing land! why therefore
hath my people said, we have departed, we will come no more unto
thee? Doth the virgin forget her ornament, or I the spouse her
gorget? my people truly hath forgotten me for innumerable days.
Because my people are foolish, they I have not known me, they are
unwise and mad children. They are wise to do evil, but to do well
they have been ignorant."

48. Then the prophet speaketh in his own person saying, "O Lord
thine eyes do respect faith, thou hast stricken them, and they
have not sorrowed, thou hast broken them and they have refused to
receive discipline, they have made their faces harder than the
rock, and will not return." And also our Lord: "Declare ye this
same to the house of Jacob, and make it to be heard in Judah,
saying, Hear, ye foolish people who have no heart, who having eyes
see not, and ears hear not. Will ye not therefore dread me, saith
our Lord, and will ye not conceive grief from my countenance, who
have placed the sand as the bound of the sea, an eternal
commandment which she shall not break, and her waves, shall be
moved, and they cannot, and her surge shall swell and yet not pass
the same? But to this people is framed an incredulous and an
exasperating heart, they have retired and gone their ways, and not
in their heart said, Let us fear our Lord God." And again,
"Because there are found among my people wicked ones, framing
wiles to entangle as if they were fowlers, setting snares and gins
to catch men: as a net that is full of birds, so are their houses
filled with deceits. Therefore are they magnified and enriched,
they are become gross and fat, and have neglected my speeches most
vilely, the orphans' cause they have not decided, and the justice
of the poor they have not adjudged. What! shall I not visit these
men, saith our Lord? or shall not my soul be revenged upon such a
nation?"

49. But God forbid that ever should happen unto you, that which
followeth, "Thou shalt speak all these words unto them, and they
shall not hear thee; and thou shalt call them, and they shall not
answer thee; and thou shalt say unto them, This is the nation that
hath not heard the voice of their Lord God, nor yet received
discipline, faith hath perished, and been taken away from out of
their mouth." And after some few speeches, "Whoso falleth doth he
not arise again, and whoso is turned away, shall he not return
again? why therefore is this people in Jerusalem, with a
contentious aversion alienated? they have apprehended lying, and
they will not come back again. I have been attentive, and
hearkened diligently, no man speaketh what is good. There is none
who repenteth of his sin, saying, What have I done? All are turned
unto their own course, like a horse passing with violence to
battle. The kite in the sky hath known her time, the turtle, and
swallow, and stork have kept the season of their coming, but my
people hath not known the judgment of God." And the prophet, being
smitten with fear at so wonderful a blindness, and unspeakable
drunkenness of the sacrilegious, and lamenting them who did not
lament themselves (even according to the present behaviour of
these our unfortunate tyrants), beseecheth of our Lord, that an
augmentation of tears might be granted him, speaking in this
manner, "I am contrite upon the contrition of the daughter of my
people, astonishment hath possessed me is there no balm in Gilead,
or is: there no physician there? Why therefore is not the wound of
the daughter of my people healed? Who shall give water unto my
head, and to mine eyes a fountain of tears, arid I will day and
night bewail the slaughtered of my people? who will grant me in
the wilderness the inn of passengers? and I will utterly leave my
people, and depart from them; because they are all of them
adulterers, a root of offenders, and they have bent their tongue
as the bow of lying, and not of truth, they are comforted in the
earth, because they have passed from evil to evil, and not known
me, saith our Lord." And again: "And our Lord hath said, Because
they have forsaken my law, which I have given them, and not heard
my voice, nor walked thereafter, and have wandered away after the
wickedness of their own heart, in that respect our Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, saith these words, Behold I will feed this
people with wormwood, and give them to drink the water of gall."
And a little after (speaking in the person of God), "See therefore
thou do not pray for this people, nor assume thou for them praise
and prayer, because I will not hear in the time of their outcry
unto me, and of their affliction."

50. What then shall now our miserable governors do, these few who
found out the narrow way and left the large, were by God forbidden
to pour out their prayers for such as persevered in their evils,
and so highly provoked his wrath, against whom on the contrary
side when they returned with all their hearts unto God (his divine
Majesty being unwilling that the soul of man should perish, but
calling back the castaway that he should not utterly be destroyed)
the same prophets could not procure the heavenly revenge, because
Jonas, when he desired the like most earnestly against the
Ninevites, could not obtain it. But in the meanwhile omitting our
own words, let us rather hear what the prophetic trumpet soundeth
in our ears speaking thus: "If thou shalt say in thy heart, Why
have these evils befallen? For the multitude of thine iniquities.
If the Ethiopian can change his skin, or the leopard his sundry
spots, ye may also do well when ye have learned evil," ever
supposing that ye will not. And afterwards: "These words doth our
Lord say to this people, who have loved to move their feet, and
have not rested, and not pleased our Lord, Now shall he remember
their iniquities, and visit their offences; and our Lord said unto
me, Pray thou not for this people to work their good, when they
fast, I will not hear their prayers; and if they offer burnt
sacrifices and oblations, I will not receive them." And again,
"And our Lord said unto me, If Moses and Samuel shall stand before
me, my soul is not bent to this people, cast them out away from my
face, and let them depart." And after a few words: "Who shall have
pity on thee Jerusalem, or who shall be sorrowful for thee, or who
shall pray for thy peace? Thou hast left me (saith our Lord) and
gone away backward, and I will stretch forth my hand over thee,
and kill thee." And somewhat after: "Thus saith our Lord, Behold I
imagine a thought against you, let every man return from his evil
course, and make straight your ways and endeavours, who said, we
despair, we will go after our own thoughts, and every one of us
will do the naughtiness of his evil heart. Thus therefore saith
our Lord, Ask the Gentiles, who hath heard such horrible matters,
which the virgin Israel hath too often committed? Shall there fail
from the rock of the field, the snow of Libanus? or can the waters
be drawn dry that gush out cold and flowing? because my people
hath forgotten me." And somewhat also after this propounding unto
them an election, he speaking saith, "Thus saith our Lord, Do ye
judgment and justice, and deliver him who by power is oppressed
out of the hand of the malicious accuser; and for the stranger,
and orphan, and widow, do not provoke their sorrow, neither yet
work ye unjustly the grief of others, nor shed ye forth the
innocent blood. For if indeed ye shall accomplish this word, there
shall enter in through the gates of this house, kings of the
lineage of David, sitting upon his throne. But if ye will not
hearken unto these words, by myself I have sworn (saith our lord)
that this house shall be turned into a desert." And again (for he
spoke of a wicked king), "As I live (saith our Lord) if so be that
Jechonias shall be a ring on my right hand, I will pluck him away,
and give him over into the hands of them who seek his life."

51. Moreover, holy Abraham crieth out, saying, "Woe be unto them
who build a city in blood, and prepare a town in iniquities,
saying, Are not these things from our almighty Lord? and many
people have failed in fire, and many nations nave been
diminished." And thus complaining, he begins his prophecy: "How
long, O Lord, shall I call, and thou wilt not hear? Shall I cry
out unto thee, to what end hast thou given me labours and griefs,
to behold misery and impiety?" And on the other side, "And
judgment was sat upon, and the judge hath taken in regard hereof,
the law is rent in pieces, and judgment is not brought fully to
his conclusion, because the wicked through power treadeth the just
under foot. In this respect hath passed forth perverse judgment."

52. And mark ye also what blessed Hosea the prophet says of
princes: "For that they have transgressed my covenant, and
ordained against my law, and exclaimed, we have known thee,
because thou art against Israel. They have persecuted good, as if
it were evil. They have reigned for themselves and not by me; they
have held a principality, neither yet have they acknowledged me."

53. And hear ye likewise the holy prophet Amos, in this sort
threatening: "In three heinous offences of the sons of Judah, and
in four I will not convert them, for that they have cast away the
law of our Lord, and not kept his commandments, but their vanities
have seduced them. And I will send fire upon Judah, and it shall
eat the foundations of Jerusalem. Thus saith our Lord, In three
grievous sins of Israel, and in four I will not convert them, for
that they have sold the just for money, and the poor man for
shoes, which they tread upon the dust of the earth, and with
buffets they did beat the heads of the poor, and have eschewed the
way of the humble." And after a few words, "Seek our Lord and ye
shall live, that the house of Joseph may not shine as fire, and
the flame devour it, and he shall not be, that can extinguish it.
The house of Israel hath hated him who rebuketh in the gates, and
abhorred the upright word." Which Amos, being forbidden to
prophesy in Israel, without any fawning flattery, saith in answer,
"I was not a prophet, nor yet the son of a prophet, but a
goatherd; I was plucking sycamores and our Lord took me from my
herd, and our Lord said unto me, Go thy way and prophesy against
my people of Israel: and now hear thou the word of our Lord (for
he directed his speech unto the king), thou sayest, do not
prophesy against Israel, and thou shalt not assemble troops
against the house of Jacob. For which cause our Lord saith thus,
thy wife in the city shall play the harlot, and thy sons and
daughters shall die by the sword, and thy ground be measured by
the cord, and thou in a polluted land shalt end thy life, but for
Israel, she shall be led from his own country a captive." And
afterwards, "Hear therefore these words, ye who do outrageously
afflict the poor, and, practise your mighty power against the
needy of the earth, who say, when shall the month pass over that
we may purchase, and the sabbaths that we may open the
treasuries." And within a few words after, "Our Lord doth swear
against the pride of Jacob, if he shall in contempt forget your
actions, and if in these the earth shall not be disturbed, and end
every inhabitant thereof fall to lamentation, and the final end as
a flood ascend, and I will turn your festival days into wailing,
and cast haircloth on the loins of every one, and on the head of
every man baldness, and make him as the mourning of one over
beloved, and those who are with him as the day of his sorrow." And
again, "In the sword shall die all the sinners of my people, who
say, evils shall not approach nor yet shall light upon us."

54. And listen ye, likewise, what holy Michah the prophet hath
spoken, saying, "Hearken, ye tribes. And what shall adorn the
city? Shall not fire? and the house of the wicked hoarding up
unjust treasures, and with injury unrighteousness? If the wrongful
dealer shall be justified in the balance, and deceitful weights in
the scales by which they have heaped up their riches in
ungodliness."

55. And hear also what threats the famous prophet Zephaniah
thundereth out: saith he, "The great day of our Lord is near; it
is at hand, and very swiftly approacheth. The voice of the day of
our Lord is appointed to be bitter and mighty, that day, a day of
wrath, a day of tribulation and necessity, a day of clouds and
mist, a day of the trumpet and outcry, a day of misery and
extermination, a day of darkness and dirtiness upon the strong
cities and high corners. And I will bring men to tribulation, and
they shall go as if they were blind, because they have offended
our Lord, and I will pour out their blood as dust, and their flesh
as the dung of oxen, and their silver and gold shall not be able
to deliver them in the day of the wrath of our Lord. And in the
fire of his zeal shall the whole earth be consumed, when the Lord
shall accomplish his absolute end, and bring solitariness upon all
the inhabitants of the earth. Come together and be joined in one,
thou nation without discipline, before ye be made as the fading
flower, before the wrath of our Lord falleth upon ye."

56. And give ear also unto that which the prophet Haggai speaketh:
"Thus saith our Lord, I will once move the heaven, and earth, and
sea, and dry land, and I will drive away the thrones of kings, and
root out the power of the kings of the Gentiles, and I will chase
away the chariots of those who mount upon them."

57. Now also behold what Zacharias the son of Addo, that chosen
prophet, said, beginning his prophecy in this manner: "Return to
me, and I will return unto you, saith our Lord, and be not like
your fathers, to whom the former prophets have imputed, saying,
Thus saith our almighty Lord, Turn away from your ways, and they
have not marked whereby they might obediently hear me." And
afterwards, "And the angel asked me, what dost thou see? And I
said, I see a flying scythe, which containeth in length twenty
cubits. The malediction which hath proceeded upon the face of the
whole earth; because every one of her thieves shall be punished
even to the death, and I will throw him away, saith our almighty
Lord, and he shall enter into the house of fury, and into the
house of swearing falsehood in my name."

58. Holy Malachy the prophet also saith, "Behold, the day of our
Lord shall come, inflamed as a furnace, and all proud men, and al
workers of iniquity shall be as stubble, and the approaching day
of the Lord of hosts shall set them on fire, which shall not leave
a root nor a bud of them."

59. And hearken ye also what holy Job debateth of the beginning
and end of the ungodly, saying, "For what purpose do the wicked
live, and have grown old dishonestly, and their issue hath been
according to their own desire, and their sons before their faces,
and their houses are fruitful, and no fear nor yet the scourge of
our Lord is upon them. Their cow hath not been abortive, their
great with young hath brought forth her young ones and not missed,
but remaineth as an eternal breed; and their children rejoice, and
taking the psaltery and harp, have finished their days in felicity
and fallen peaceably asleep down into hell." Doth God, therefore,
not behold the works of the wicked? Not so, truly, "But the candle
of the ungodly shall be extinguished, and destruction shall fall
upon them, and pains as of one in childbirth, shall withhold them
from wrath; and they shall be as chaff before the wind, and as the
dust which the whirlwind hath carried away. Let all goodness fail
his children; let his eyes behold his own slaughter, nor yet by
our Lord let him be redeemed." And a little after, he saith of the
same men, "Who have ravenously taken the flock with the shepherd,
and driven away the beast of the orphans, and engaged the ox of
the widow, and deceiving, have declined from the way of necessity.
They have reaped other men's fields before the time; the poor have
laboured in the vineyards of the mighty without hire and meat,
they have made many to sleep naked without garments; of the
covering of their life they have bereaved them." And somewhat
afterwards, when he had thoroughly understood their works, he
delivered them over to darkness. "Let, therefore, his portion be
accursed from the earth; let his plantings bring forth witherings;
let him for this be rewarded according to his dealings; let every
wicked man like the unsound wood be broken in pieces. For arising
in his wrath hath he overthrown the impotent. Wherefore truly
shall he have no trust of his life; when he shall begin to grow
diseased, let him not hope for health, but fall into languishing.
For his pride hath been the hurt of many, and he is become decayed
and rotten, as the mallows in the scorching heat, or as the ear of
corn when it falleth off from its stubble." And afterwards, "If
his children shall be many, they shall be turned to the slaughter,
and if he gather together silver as if it were earth, and likewise
purify his gold as if it were dirt, all these same shall the just
obtain."

60. Hear ye moreover what blessed Esdras, that cyclopaedia of the
divine law, threateneth in his discourse. "Thus saith our Lord
God: My right hand shall not be sparing upon sinners, neither
shall the sword cease over them who spill the innocent blood on
the earth. Fire shall proceed from out of my wrath, and devour the
foundations of the earth, and sinners as if they were inflamed
straw. Woe be unto them who offend, and observe not my
commandments, saith our Lord, I will not forbear them. Depart from
me ye apostatizing children, and do not pollute my sanctuary. God
doth know who offend against him, and he will therefore deliver
them over to death and to slaughter. For now have many evils
passed over the round compass of the earth. A sword of fire is
sent out against you, and who is he that shall restrain it? shall
any man repulse a lion that hungereth in the wood? or shall any
one quench out the fire when the straw is burning? our Lord God
will send out evils, and who is he that shall repress them? and
fire will pass forth from out of his wrath, and who shall
extinguish it? it shall brandishing shine, and who will not fear
it? it shall thunder, and who will not shake with dread? God will
threaten all, and who will not be terrified? before his face the
earth doth tremble, and the foundations of the sea shake from the
depths."

61. And mark ye also what Ezechiel the renowned prophet, and
admirable beholder of the four evangelical creatures, speaketh of
wicked offenders, unto whom pitifully lamenting beforehand the
scourge that hung over Israel, our Lord doth say, "Too far hath
the iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah prevailed, because
the earth is filled with iniquity and uncleanness. Behold I am,
mine eyes shall not spare, nor will I take pity." And afterwards,
"Because the earth is replenished with people, and the city
fraughted with iniquity, I will also turn away the force of their
power, and their holy things shall be polluted, prayer shall
approach and sue for peace, and it shall not be obtained." And
somewhat after, "The word of our Lord, quoth he, was spoken unto
me, saying, Thou son of man, the land that shall so far sin
against me as to commit an offence, I will stretch forth my hand
upon her, and break in pieces her foundation of bread, and send
upon her famine, and take away mankind and cattle from her; and if
these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, be in the midst of her,
they shall not deliver her, but they in their justice shall be
saved, saith our Lord. If so be that also I shall bring in evil
beasts upon the land and punish her, she likewise shall be turned
to destruction, and there shall not be one who shall have free
passage from the face of the beasts, and although these three men
are in the midst of her, as I live, saith our Lord, their sons and
daughters shall not be I preserved, but they alone shall be saved,
and as for the land it shall fall to confusion." And again, "The
son shall not receive the unrighteousness of the father, neither
the father the son's unrighteousness. The justice of the just
shall be upon himself. And the unjust man, if he turneth him away
from all the iniquities which he hath done, and keepeth all my
commandments, and doth justice and abundance of mercy he shall
live in life and shall not die. All his sins, whatsoever he hath
committed, shall have no further being; he shall live the life in
his own justice which he hath performed. Do I with my will
voluntarily wish the death of the unrighteous, saith our Lord,
rather than that he should return from his evil way and live? But
when the just shall turn himself away from his justice, and do
iniquity, according to all the iniquities which the unrighteous
hath committed, all the just actions (which he hath done) shall
remain no further in memory. In his offence wherein he hath
fallen, and in his sins in which he hath transgressed, he shal1
die." And, within some words afterwards: " And all nations shall
understand, that the house of Israel are led captive away for
their offences, because they have forsaken me. And I have turned
my face from them, and yielded them over into the hands of their
enemies, and all have perished by the sword; according unto their
unclean sins, and after their iniquities have I dealt with them,
and turned my face away from them."

62. This which I have spoken may suffice concerning the threats of
the holy prophets: only I have thought it necessary to intermingle
in this little work of mine, not only these menaces, but also a
few words borrowed out of the wisdom of Solomon, to declare unto
kings matters of exhortation or instruction, that they may not say
I am willing to load the shoulders of men with heavy and
insupportable burdens of words, but not so much as once with mine
own finger (that is, with speech of consolation) to move the same.
Let us therefore hear what the prophet hath spoken to rule us.
"Love justice," saith he, "ye that judge the earth." This
testimony alone (if it were with a full and perfect heart
observed) would abundantly suffice to reform the governors of our
country. For if they had loved justice, they would also love God,
who is in a sort the fountain and original of all justice. "Serve
our Lord in goodness, and seek him in simplicity of heart." Alas!
who shall live (as a certain one before us hath said) when such
things are done by our countrymen, if perchance they may be any
where accomplished? "Because he is found of those who do not tempt
him, he appeareth truly to them who have faith in him." For these
men without respect do tempt God, whose commandments with stubborn
despite they contemn, neither yet do they keep to him their faith,
unto whose oracles be they pleasing, or somewhat severe, they turn
their backs and not their faces. "For perverse thoughts do
separate from God," and this in the tyrants of our time very
plainly appeareth. But why doth our meanness intermeddle in this
so manifest a determination? Let therefore him who alone is true
(as we have said) speak for us, I mean the Holy Ghost, of whom it
is now pronounced, "The Holy Ghost verily will avoid the
counterfeiting of discipline." And again, "Because the Spirit of
God hath filled the globe of the earth." And afterwards (showing
with an evident judgment the end of the evil and righteous) he
saith, "How is the hope of the wicked as the down that is blown
away with the wind, and as the smoke that with the blast is
dispersed, and as the slender froth that with a storm is
scattered, and as the memory of a guest who is a passenger of one
day. But the just shall live forever, and with God remaineth their
reward, and their cogitation is with the Highest. Therefore shall
they receive the kingdom of glory, and the crown of beauty from
the hand of our Lord. Because with his right hand he will protect
them, and with his holy arm defend them." For very far unlike in
quality are the just and ungodly, as our Lord verily hath spoken,
saying, "Them who honour me I will honour, and whoso despise me
shall be of no estimation."

63. But let us pass over to the rest: "Hearken, (saith he) all ye
kings, and understand ye; learn, ye judges of the bounds of the
earth, listen with your ears who keep multitudes in awe, and
please yourselves in the troops of nations. Because power is given
unto you from God, and puissance from the highest, who will
examine your actions, and sift your thoughts. For that when ye
were ministers of his kingdom, ye have not judged uprightly, nor
kept the law of justice, nor yet walked according to his will. It
shall dreadfully and suddenly appear unto you, that a most severe
judgment shall be given on them who govern. For to the meaner is
mercy granted, but the mighty shall mightily sustain torments. For
he shall have no respect of persons, who is the ruler of all, nor
yet shall he reverence the greatness of any one, because he
himself hath made both small and great, and care alike he hath of
all; but for the stronger is at hand a stronger affliction. Unto
you therefore, O kings, are these my speeches, that you may learn
wisdom, and not fall away from her. For whoso observeth what
things are just shall be justified, and whoso learneth what things
are holy, shall be sanctified."

64. Hitherto have we discoursed no less by the oracles of the
prophets, than by her own speeches with the kings of our country,
being willing they should know what the prophet hath spoken,
saying, "As from the face of a serpent, so fly thou from sins: if
thou shalt approach unto them they will catch thee, their teeth
are the teeth of a lion, such as kill the souls of men." And
again, "How mighty is the mercy of our Lord, and his forgiveness
to such as turn unto him." And if we have not in us such
apostolical zeal, that we may say, "I did verily desire to be
anathematized by Christ for my brethren," notwithstanding that we
may from the bottom of our hearts speak that prophetic saying,
"Alas! that the soul perisheth." And again, "Let us search out our
ways, and seek and return unto our Lord: let us lift our hearts
together with our hands to God in heaven." And also that of the
apostle, "We covet that every one of you should be in the bowels
of Christ."

65. And how willingly, as one tossed on the waves of the sea, and
now arrived in a desired haven, would I in this place make an end
(shame forbidding me further to proceed), did I not behold such
great masses of evil deeds done against God by bishops or other
priests, or clerks, yea some of our own order, whom as witnesses
myself must of necessity first of all stone (according unto the
law) with the hard blows of words, lest I should be otherwise
reproved for partiality towards persons, and then afterwards the
people (if as yet they keep their decrees) must pursue with their
whole powers the same execution upon them, not to their corporal
death, but to the death of their vices and their eternal life with
God. Yet, as I before said, I crave pardon of them, whose lives I
not only praise, but also prefer before all earthly treasure, and
of the which, if it may be, yet before my death I desire and
thirst to be a partaker: and so having both my sides defended with
the double shields of saints, and by those means invincibly
strengthened to sustain all that arise against me, arming moreover
my head in place of a helmet with the help of our Lord, and being
most assuredly protected with the sundry aids of the prophets, I
will boldly proceed notwithstanding the stones of worldly rioters
fly never so fast about me.