Then I felt the mighty power of God arise over all, and told them, “if they would but give audience, and hear me quietly, I would show them by the Scriptures, why I denied those eight priests or teachers, that stood before me; and all the hireling teachers of the world whatsoever; and I would give them Scriptures for what I said.” Whereupon both priests and people consented. Then I showed them out of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah, Malachi, and others, that they were in the steps of such as God sent his true prophets to cry against; for, said I, “You are such as the prophet Jeremiah cried against, chap. v. when he said, ‘The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means;’ which he called an astonishing and horrible thing. You are such as they that used their tongues and said, Thus saith the Lord, when the Lord never spoke to them: and such as followed their own spirits, and saw nothing; but spoke forth a divination of their own brain; and by their lies and their lightness had caused the people to err, Jer. xiv. You are such as they were, that sought for their gain from their quarter; that were as greedy, dumb dogs, that could never have enough, whom the Lord sent his prophet Isaiah to cry against, Isaiah lvi. You are such, as they were, who taught for handfuls of barley, and pieces of bread; who sewed pillows under people’s arm-holes, that they might lie soft in their sins, Ezek. xiii. You are such as they that taught for the fleece, and the wool, and made a prey of the people, Ezek. xxxiv. But the Lord is gathering his sheep from your mouths, and from off your barren mountains; and is bringing them to Christ, the one Shepherd, whom he hath set over his flocks; as by his prophet Ezekiel he then declared he would do. You are such as they that divined for money, and preached for hire; and if a man did not put into their mouths, they prepared war against him, as the prophet Micah complained, chap. iii.” Thus I went through the prophets, too largely to be here repeated. Then coming to the New Testament, I showed from thence, “that they were like the chief priests, and scribes, and Pharisees of old, such as Christ cried woe against, Matt, xxiii. And that they were such false apostles, as the true apostles cried against, such as taught for filthy lucre; such antichrists and deceivers, as they cried against, that minded earthly things, and served not the Lord Jesus Christ, but their own bellies: for they that served Christ gave freely, and preached freely, as he commanded them. But they that will not preach without hire, tithes, or outward means, serve their own bellies, and not Christ; and through the good words of the Scriptures, and feigned words of their own, they made merchandise of the people then, as (said I) ye do now.”