Great Britain -- History -- Anglo-Saxon period, 449-1066; Middle Ages -- Sources
§ 78. Hear ye also the holy prophet Isaias, how he speaketh of priests on
this wise. "Woe be to the ungodly, may evil befall him; for the reward
of his hands shall light upon him. Her own exactors have spoiled my
people, and women have borne sway over her. O my people, they who term
thee blessed, themselves deceive thee, and destroy the way of thy
footsteps. Our Lord standeth to judge, and standeth to judge the people.
Our Lord will come unto judgment with the elders of the people and her
princes. Ye have consumed my vine, the spoil of the poor is in your
house. Why do ye break in pieces my people, and grind the faces of the
poor? saith our Lord of hosts." And also; "Woe be unto them who compose
ungodly laws, and in their writing have written injustice, that they may
oppress the poor in judgment, and work violence to the cause of the
lowly of my people, that widows may be their prey, and they make spoil
of the orphans; what will ye do in the day of visitation and calamity
approaching from afar off?" And afterwards: "But these also in regard of
wine have been ignorant, and in respect of drunkenness have wandered
astray; the priests have not understood, because of drunkenness, and
have been swallowed up in wine, they have erred in drunkenness, they
have not known him who seeth, they have been ignorant of judgment. For
all tables are filled with the vomit of their uncleanness, in so much as
there is not any free place to be found."
§ 79. "Hear therefore the word of our Lord, O ye deceivers, who bear
authority over my people that is in Jerusalem. For ye have said, We have
entered into a truce with death, and with hell we have made a covenant.
The overflowing scourge when it shall pass forth shall not fall upon us,
because we have placed falsehood for our hope, and by lying we have been
defended." And somewhat after: "And hail shall overthrow the hope of
lying, together with the defence. Waters shall overflow, and your truce
with death shall be destroyed, and your covenant with hell shall not
continue, when the overflowing scourge shall pass forth; ye shall also
be trodden under foot, whensoever it shall pass along through you, it
shall sweep you away withal." And again: "And our Lord hath said:
Because this people approacheth with their mouth, and with their lips
glorify me, but their heart is far from me; behold, therefore, I will
cause this people to wonder by a great and stupendous miracle. For
wisdom shall decay and fall away from her wise men, and the
understanding of her sages shall be concealed. Woe be unto you that are
profound in heart, to conceal counsel from our Lord, whose works are in
darkness, and they say, who seeth us? And who hath known us? for this
thought of yours is perverse." And afterwards: "Thus saith our Lord,
Heaven is my seat, and the earth my footstool. What is this house that
ye will erect unto me, and what place shall be found for my
resting-place? all these things hath my hand made, and these universally
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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