(6) And this man was our Patriarch; hence whoever Doth follow him as he commands can see That he is laden with good merchandise. But for new pasturage his flock has grown So greedy, that it is impossible They be not scattered over fields diverse; And in proportion as his sheep remote And vagabond go farther off from him, More void of milk return they to the fold. Verily some there are that fear a hurt, And keep close to the shepherd; but so few, That little cloth doth furnish forth their hoods. Now if my utterance be not indistinct, If thine own hearing hath attentive been, If thou recall to mind what I have said, In part contented shall thy wishes be; For thou shalt see the plant that's chipped away, And the rebuke that lieth in the words, 'Where well one fattens, if he strayeth not.'"

(32) And man's jealousy is only an offshoot from God's. But, let me now quit this subject, and make complaint Complaints of God's harsh dealings with His adoring slaves. "Wherefore dost thou abandon thy creed and faith? What matters it if it be heathen or true? Why hast thou forsaken thy Beloved? What matters it if she be fair or ugly?" Let me then, I say, make complaint I cry, and my cries sound sweet in His ear; How shall I not wail under His chastening hand?

(99) This modern world would do well to speculate on this pride and covetousness, and to consider how it is an enmity against God; and that thereby they go headlong to the devil, and there must have their jaws and throats open eternally to rob and devour, and yet find nothing but hellish abomination. Of the Third Son, Envy. [Spite]

(109) And all the blessings destined for them I have recounted in the books. And he hath assigned them their recompense, because they have been found to be such as loved heaven more than their life in the world, and though they were trodden under foot of wicked men, and experienced abuse and reviling from them and were put to shame, yet they blessed Me.

(16) But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

(32) I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.

(4) (But this Thy bounteous spirit doth not alone bestow rewards and blessings on the good.) The wicked (foemen of the Faith) are harmed, and from (the motives which move) that bounteous spirit (of Thine own), O Mazda ! but not thus the saints. (And yet the ruler's pride would ever slight the righteous.) The feeble man alone stands free to give in kindly obligation to Thy saint, but having wealth and ruling power, the evil (man) is (at the service) of the wicked, and for much .

(14) ¶But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.

(7) ¶But take heed to yourselves: for before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you; delivering you up to councils, and into prisons, to be afflicted: and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my name's sake. And it shall turn to you for a testimony against them. Then shall they kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

(61) But it is possible to go after the Anger; as his dear Heart is generated out of the Anger, which [cools, pacifies, or] stills the Anger, and is rightly called the Paradise or the Kingdom of Heaven. And his Anger is not known in the Heaven; and so there also, his Election goes always over the Children of Love, which belong to the Kingdom of Heaven. And St. Paul speaks no otherwise of his Election, but means [it of] them that draw near to him, and enter into his Covenant, and give up themselves to him; and these the Father draws with the Holy Ghost, through the Death of Christ into the pure Element [that is] before the Father, Fear not thou [O] my Servant Jacob, and thou upright [one] whom I have chosen.

(23) Also when the Heathens should hear, that God would send this People, which he had brought out of Egypt with great Wonders [or Miracles,] among them to destroy them, that they should turn to God and depart from Covetousness, and enter into The Stars order their Government, Brotherly Love, therefore he gave them a long Time of Respite; as also to Israel (whom he fed from Heaven) for an Example, that one People should be an Example to the other, that there is and only evil, and seeing they did live in the Father' fierce Anger, therefore the Anger and Severity of God lusted also to devour them, because they continually kindled P it.

(106) But seeing God has accursed him as an eternal enemy, and condemned him unto eternal imprisonment, where God now seeth his hourglass more and more plainly before his eyes; and seeing his hellish kingdom is revealed to me by the spirit of God; so I, together with and among all holy souls of men, curse him also, and renounce and defy him as an eternal enemy, who has often spoiled and torn up my vineyard.

(1) BUT now thou askest me, “What is he, this that thus presseth upon me in this work; and whether it is a good thing or an evil? And if it be an evil thing, then have I marvel,” thou sayest, “why that he will increase a man’s devotion so much. For sometimes me think that it is a passing comfort to listen after his tales. For he will sometime, me think, make me weep full heartily for pity of the Passion of Christ, sometime for my wretchedness, and for many other reasons, that me thinketh be full holy, and that done me much good. And therefore me thinketh that he should on nowise be evil; and if he be good, and with his sweet tales doth me so much good withal, then I have great marvel why that thou biddest me put him down and away so far under the cloud of forgetting?”

(4) "For Abraham, who for his free faith was called ' the friend of God,' was not elated by glory, but modestly said, 'I am dust and ashes.' And of Job it is thus written: ' Job was just and blameless, true and pious, abstaining from all evil.'" He it was who overcame the tempter by patience, and at once testified and was testified to by God; who keeps hold of humility, and says, "No one is pure from defilement, not even if his life were but for one day." "Moses, 'the servant who was faithful in all his house,' said to Him who uttered the oracles from the bush,' Who am I, that Thou sendest me? I am slow of speech, and of a stammering tongue,' to minister the voice of God in human speech. And again: ' I am smoke from a pot.'" "For God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble."

(3) I say not that it shall ever last and dwell in all their minds continually, that be called to work in this work. Nay, so is it not. For from a young ghostly prentice in this work, the actual feeling thereof is ofttimes withdrawn for divers reasons. Sometime, for he shall not take over presumptuously thereupon, and ween that it be in great part in his own power to have it when him list, and as him list. And such a weening were pride. And evermore when the feeling of grace is withdrawn, pride is the cause: not ever pride that is, but pride that should be, were it not that this feeling of grace were withdrawn. And thus ween ofttimes some young fools, that God is their enemy; when He is their full friend.

(2) Thereafterward I heard: "O good Fabricius, Virtue with poverty didst thou prefer To the possession of great wealth with vice." So pleasurable were these words to me That I drew farther onward to have knowledge Touching that spirit whence they seemed to come. He furthermore was speaking of the largess Which Nicholas unto the maidens gave, In order to conduct their youth to honour. "O soul that dost so excellently speak, Tell me who wast thou," said I, "and why only Thou dost renew these praises well deserved? Not without recompense shall be thy word, If I return to finish the short journey Of that life which is flying to its end." And he: "I'll tell thee, not for any comfort I may expect from earth, but that so much Grace shines in thee or ever thou art dead. I was the root of that malignant plant Which overshadows all the Christian world, So that good fruit is seldom gathered from it; But if Douay and Ghent, and Lille and Bruges Had Power, soon vengeance would be taken on it; And this I pray of Him who judges all.

(62) 'Tis contrary to reason to distrust him. Though I bear a bad name, my nature is not malevolent; What you saw was not dangerous, it was only a talisman. But even if there were danger in that object of suspicion, Friends always pardon an offence." This world of illusions, fancies, desires, and fears, Is a mighty obstacle in the traveler's path. Thus, when these forms of delusive imaginations Misled Abraham, who was a very mountain of wisdom, He said of the star, " This is my Lord,"

(53) Behold! God the Father spake to the People of Israel on mount Sinai, when he gave the Law to them, saying; I am an angry, [Exod. xx. 5;Deut.9] zealous or jealous God to those that hate me.

(4) After we left from our home and came down to this world and came into being in the world in bodies, we were hated and persecuted, not only by those who are ignorant but also by those who think that they are advancing the name of Christ, since they were unknowingly empty, not knowing who they are, like dumb animals. They persecuted those who have been liberated by me, since they hate them—those who, should they shut their mouth, would weep with a profitless groaning because they did not fully know me. Instead, they served two masters, even a multitude. But you will become victorious in everything, in war and battles, jealous division and wrath. In the uprightness of our love we are innocent, pure, and good, since we have the mind of the father in an ineffable mystery.

(2) And similarly, if he afford any cause for conflict or punishment, or retribution or enmity, he gives occasion for persecution. Wherefore, then, we are enjoined not to cling to anything that belongs to this life; but "to him that takes our cloak to give our coat," not only that we may continue destitute of inordinate affection, but that we may not by retaliating make our persecutors savage against ourselves, and stir them up to blaspheme the name.