Great Britain -- History -- Anglo-Saxon period, 449-1066; Middle Ages -- Sources
§ 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."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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