(63) He [the Devil] supposed, [saying;] The Kingdom of this World is thine, thou shalt sport thyself according to thy Power with the Image of Man, which should have possessed thy Throne, his Spirit is in thy Kingdom; and so [the Devil] mocked God in his Mind, [saying.;] Where is now thy noble Image, which thou didst create to rule over my Throne? Am not I Lord of the great Might of the Fire? I will rule over thy Throne, the Might [or Strength] and Virtue is mine: I fly up above the Thrones of Virtue and Strength, and no Might [or Power] can withstand me.

(36) But what can be said? The Devil will have it no otherwise. When his Kingdom begins to be stormed [battered and assaulted] at one Place, then he blows up the Storm all over, [as well in one as another,] in the Children of God; the Spirit of Punishment [Vengeance or Reproof] is stirred up; and in the worldly bestial Man, the Devil blows up mere scorning and disgracing Mockers; for they have the Kingdom of Christ in the History, and the Devil's Kingdom in themselves, as their own Possession.

(62) And all the kings and the mighty and the exalted and those who rule the earth Shall fall down before him on their faces, And worship and set their hope upon that Son of Man, And petition him and supplicate for mercy at his hands.

(25) Now, after that a man hath walked in all the ways that lead him unto the truth, and exercised himself therein, not sparing his labour; now, as often and as long as he dreameth that his work is altogether finished, and he is by this time quite dead to the world, and come out from Self and given up to God alone, behold! the Devil cometh and soweth his seed in the man’s heart. From this seed spring two fruits; the one is spiritual fulness or pride, the other is false, lawless freedom. These are two sisters who love to be together. Now, it beginneth on this wise: the Devil puffeth up the man, till he thinketh himself to have climbed the topmost pinnacle, and to have come so near to heaven, that he no longer needeth Scripture, nor teaching, nor this nor that, but is altogether raised above any need. Whereupon there ariseth a false peace and satisfaction with himself, and then it followeth that he saith or thinketh: “Yea, now I am above all other men, and know and understand more than any one in the world; therefore it is certainly just and reasonable that I should be the lord and commander of all creatures, and that all creatures, and especially all men, should serve me and be subject unto me.” And then he seeketh and desireth the same, and taketh it gladly from all creatures, especially men, and thinketh himself well worthy of all this, and that it is his due, and looketh on men as if they were the beasts of the field, and thinketh himself worthy of all that ministereth to his body and life and nature, in profit, or joy, or pleasure, or even pastime and amusement, and he seeketh and taketh it wherever he findeth opportunity.

(98) And thus stood the Soul as a valiant Champion, and said to Satan; Get thee hence, Satan, thou shouldst worship the Lord thy God, and serve him only. I have no more to do with thee. There the Devil, Hell, and the Kingdom of this World, were commanded to be gone, and the valiant Champion got the Victory; and the Devil was fain to get him gone, and the earthly [Part] was overcome. And here now the noble Champion stands upon the Moon, and receives all Might, in Heaven, Hell, and on Earth, into his Power, and rules (with his Soul, in the holy Ternary, in this outward Body) over Death and Life; and here this World is become Christ' own, for he has overcome it; he could live in God, and needed not the earthly Food nor Drink.

(2) For nothing does torment the devil more than when his glory is upbraided to him, by signifying what a glorious king and prince he has been: When this is objected to him, then he is in a rage and madness, as if he would storm and overflow all the world.

(8) Though they did miracles and wonders, and shewed great signs, yet the world gazed on high things alone, and the Holy Ghost must be as the dust under their feet: For the proud devil always endeavoured to be king in this world.

(88) But when the heart of God sheweth forth itself with its clarity or brightness, then there riseth up the whole host or army of all the three kingdoms of the angels; and in this rising up of the heart of God the Man JESUS CHRIST is King and Chief. He leadeth the royal chorus or choir, with all the holy souls of men, till the Last Judgment Day. And then the holy men are perfect angels, and the wicked, perfect devils, and that in its eternity.

(28) Yet it could not be (how vigorously soever it was sought after) that Man (in his own Power) could enter into Paradise. And therefore poor captive Man must sit in this World in the Devil's murdering Den; where now the Devil has built his Chapel close by the Christian Church, and has quite destroyed the Love of Paradise, and has in the Stead of it set up mere covetous, proud, self-willed, [or self-conceited,] faithless, sturdy, malicious Blasphemers, Thieves and Murderers, which lift themselves up against Heaven and Paradise, and have built themselves a Kingdom according to the Dominion of the fierce sour [Stars or] Constellations, wherein they domineer (with Silver and Gold) and consume the Sweat one of another; whosoever is but able, oppresses the other to the Ground. And though he flies before him, yet then he only puts forth his Dragon's Tongue, and spits Fire upon him; he terrifies him with his harsh Voice, and plagues him Day and Night.

(16) Now this King was promised of God, that he should possess the Gates of his Enemies, and should lead his Enemies captive; and the Devils are these Enemies. Now dost thou conceive, that when this Creature bound the Devils at Jerusalem, and as a confined Creature that did reach no further, did lead them captive, who then bound them at Rome? Thou sayest; his Deity. O no! that was not its Office; the Devils are however in the Father's most internal Root; in his Anger. A Creature must only do it, who was so great as could be every where with the Devils.

(7) Which they themselves shall suddenly be sure to see, with great terror, anguish and eternal despair, as also to their shame and scorn: of which the devils are a terrible example, who were once the fairest and brightest angels in heaven, as I shall reveal, write and manifest here following. I will suffer God's impulse, I am not able to withstand it. Of the Divine Quality.

(62) And the kings and the mighty and all who possess the earth shall bless and glorify and extol him who rules over all, who was hidden.

(63) In those days shall the mighty and the kings who possess the earth implore (Him) to grant them a little respite from His angels of punishment to whom they were delivered, that they might fall down and worship before the Lord of Spirits, and confess their sins before Him.

(32) The other Kingdom is that of Antichrist, with a golden [Splendor or] Glance, prancing in State, glistering on every Side. Every one says, It is a happy Thing, for it adorns itself most sumptuously, and sets its Seat over the Hills and Mountains; every one salutes it, [or does it Reverence.] It draws the Tincture of the Earth to itself, that it may glister alone; it bereaves the Kingdom of Christ of its temporal [Food, Livelihood, or] Bread; it devours the Sweat of the Needy, and says to him, You are mine, I am your God, I will set you where I please; you are the Dog that lies at my Feet: If I had a Mind to it, I could hunt you out of my House, you must do what I will; and the needy Worm must say, I am your poor Servant, do but spare my Life. And if he squeezes out the Sweat of his Brows, so that he smarts, which his Master consumes [or spends,] then he grows impatient with his Master, and curses him, and seeks out Ways of Lying and Deceit, and by what Way he might make his heavy Burden lighter.

(130) Therefore he has set upon him the crown of honour, of might, power and authority, so that there is in heaven no higher nor more excellent nor mightier than he is, except God himself in his Ternary. And this is one king, rightly described, with a true ground in the knowledge of the spirit. Of the second King LUCIFER, now so called, because of his Fall.

(2) "And all the rulers and all those who are in the Fate, were thrown into agitation and fell on one another and were in exceeding great fear on seeing the great light that was about me. And they gazed on my vesture of light and saw the mystery of their name on my vesture and fell into still greater agitation; and they were in great fear, saying: 'How hath the lord of the universe passed through us without our knowing?' And all the bonds of their regions and of their orders and of their houses were unloosed; they all came at once, fell down, adored before me and sang praises all together to the interiors of the interiors, being in great fear and great agitation.

(32) And He said unto him again : "I am the Lord who created the heaven and the earth, and I shall increase thee and multiply thee exceedingly, and kings will come forth from thee, and they will judge everywhere wherever the foot of the sons of men hath trodden.

(38) Then shall the kings and the mighty perish And be given into the hands of the righteous and holy.

(13) For as he goes a Hunting, in his Kingdom, and catches the poor Souls which Way soever he can, and lays wait for them by his Servants, with all Manner of Vice and Wickedness, and so continually sets such Looking-glasses before the Soul, that it should behold itself in its own Wickedness, and amuses it also with fair Promises of great Honour, Power, and Authority, he sets the poor despised Sort before the Soul, and says, Wilt thou only be the Fool of the World, come along with me, I will give thee the Kingdom of this World for a Possession, as he said to Christ, so in like Manner, when the Soul has put on the Kingdom of Heaven, and yet sticks in the dark Valley in Flesh and Blood, and sees the Devil's P murdering of its Brethren and Sisters, then it comes to be armed of God to fight against the Devil, and to discover his Burrow. For the Love to its Neighbour constrains it to do so, because it would help to increase the Kingdom of Heaven; therefore it teaches and reproves thus, it warns against Sin, and teaches the Way to the Kingdom of Heaven; which indeed the bestial Body does not understand; it goes away, like the rude Ass, and thinks with the starry and elementary Mind, as follows.

(51) Deliver me from that god who seizeth upon souls, who consumeth all filth and corruption in the darkness or in the light: all those who fear him are in powerless condition