(30) Thou must continue steadfast in this resolute Purpose; and though thou gettest no Virtue [or Strength] into thy Heart, and though the Devil also should beat down thy Tongue, that thou couldst not pray to God, yet then thou shouldst desire and sigh to him, and continually hold and go on in this Thought and Purpose, with the Canaanitish Woman; the more thou pressest forward, the weaker the Devil is; thou must take the suffering Death and Satisfaction of Jesus Christ before thee, and must throw thy Soul into his Promise; where he says, My Father will give the Holy Ghost to them that ask him for it. Also, Knock, and it shall be opened unto you; seek, and you shall find; ask, and you shall receive; and the more earnestly thou pressest forth from the Devil, and from thy Sins, the more mightily does the Kingdom of God press into thee; but have a Care that thou dost not depart from this thy Will, before thou hast received the Jewel; and though it holds off from Morning till Night, and still from Day to Day, [let not that discourage thee,] if thy Earnestness be great, then thy Jewel will also be great which thou shalt receive at thy Over-coming.

(32) And the Lord appeared to him by night and blessed him and said unto him : ' " Thy name shall not be called Jacob, but Israel shall they name thy name."

(29) And the Lord did not suffer him to injure Jacob; for He appeared to him in a dream by night. And Laban spake to Jacob.

(54) But concerning the feigned Masses for Souls which the hearty Pressing in to God, that is altogether false, and stands in Babel; it helps the Soul little or nothing; it must be an earnest Fight that must be had with the Devil, thou must be well armed; for thou enterest into the Combat with a [mighty] Prince, look to it thyself (in thy i rough Garment) be not beaten down.

(7) These things show that that wisdom can be acquired through instruction, to which Abraham attained, passing from the contemplation of heavenly things to the faith and righteousness which are according to God. And Isaac is shown to mean "self-taught;" wherefore also he is discovered to be a type of Christ. He was the husband of one wife Rebecca, which they translate "Patience." And Jacob is said to have consorted with several, his name being interpreted" Exerciser." And exercises are engaged in by means of many and various dogmas. Whence, also, he who is really "endowed with the power of seeing" is called Israel, having much experience, and being fit for exercise.

(19) " Jacob, my beloved son, whom my soul loveth, may God bless thee from above the firmament, and may He give thee all the blessings wherewith He blessed Adam, and Enoch, and Noah, and Shem ; and all the things of which He told me, and all the things which He promised to give me, may He cause to cleave to thee and to thy seed for ever, according to the days of heaven above the earth.

(4) Do on then fast; let see how thou bearest thee. Seest thou not how He standeth and abideth thee? For shame! Travail fast but awhile, and thou shalt soon be eased of the greatness and of the hardness of this travail. For although it be hard and strait in the beginning, when thou hast no devotion; nevertheless yet after, when thou hast devotion, it shall be made full restful and full light unto thee that before was full hard. And thou shalt have either little travail or none, for then will God work sometimes all by Himself. But not ever, nor yet no long time together, but when Him list and as Him list; and then wilt thou think it merry to let Him alone.

(22) And he drew near and kissed him, and he said : " Blessed be my son Jacob And all the sons of God Most High, unto all the ages : May God give unto thee a seed of righteousness ; And some of thy sons may He sanctify in the midst of the whole earth; May nations serve thee, And all the nations bow themselves before thy seed.

(31) And Jacob told his father everything during the night, how the Lord had shown him great mercy, and how He had prospered (him in) all his ways, and protected him from all evil.

(31) And he went forth from between his feet and fell down and worshipped him. And he blessed them. And (Jacob) rested there with Isaac his father that night, and they ate and drank with joy.

(2) Do on then, I pray thee, fast. Look now forwards and let be backwards; and see what thee faileth, and not what thou hast, for that is the readiest getting and keeping of meekness. All thy life now behoveth altogether to stand in desire, if thou shalt profit in degree of perfection. This desire behoveth altogether be wrought in thy will, by the hand of Almighty God and thy consent. But one thing I tell thee. He is a jealous lover and suffereth no fellowship, and Him list not work in thy will but if He be only with thee by Himself. He asketh none help, but only thyself. He wills, thou do but look on Him and let Him alone. And keep thou the windows and the door, for flies and enemies assailing. And if thou be willing to do this, thee needeth but meekly press upon him with prayer, and soon will He help thee. Press on then, let see how thou bearest thee. He is full ready, and doth but abideth thee. But what shalt thou do, and how shalt thou press?

(25) And at that hour, when the spirit of righteousness descended into her mouth, she placed both her hands on the head of Jacob, and said : 1 Cf? John xiv. , xv. , xvi. (rb vvtvua tiji AxnffUr) ; a variant reading here is " Holy Spirit."

(48) Thou will ask, What is the New Regeneration? Or how is that done in Man? Hear and see, stop not thy Mind, let not thy mind be filled by the Spirit of this World, with its Might and Pomp. Take thy Mind, and break through [the Spirit of this World] entirely, incline thy Mind into the kind Love of God; make thy Purpose earnest and strong, to break through the Pleasure of this World with thy Mind, and not to regard it; consider that thou art not at Home in this World, but that thou art a strange Guest, captivated in a close Prison, cry and call to him, who has the Key of the Prison; yield thyself up to him, in Obedience, Righteousness, Modesty, Chastity, and Truth. And seek not so eagerly after the Kingdom of this World, it will stick close enough to thee without that; and then the chaste Virgin will meet thee in thy Mind highly and deeply, and will lead thee to thy Bridegroom, who has the Key to the Gate of the Deep; thou must stand before him, who will give thee to eat of the heavenly Manna, which will refresh thee, and thou will be strong, and struggle with the Gate of the Deep, and thou wilt break through as the i Day -break; and though thou liest captive here in the Night, yet the Rays of the Break of Day will appear to thee in the Paradise, in which Place thy chaste Virgin stands, waiting for thee with the Joy of the Angels, who will very kindly receive thee in thy new-born Mind and Spirit.

(35) "To this mountain you shall go in a certain night (when it: comes) most long and most dark, and see that you prepare yourselves by prayer. Insist upon the way that: leads to the mountain, but ask not of any man where the way lies: only follow your Guide, who will offer himself to you, and will meet you in the way but you shall not know him. This Guide will bring you to the mountain at midnight, when all things are silent and dark. It is necessary that you arm yourselves with a resolute heroic courage, lest you fear those things that will happen, and so fall back. You need no sword, nor any other bodily weapons, only call upon God sincerely and heartily.

(31) And Isaac blessed the God of his father Abraham, who had not withdrawn His mercy and His righteousness from the sons of His servant Isaac. 1 t. t. ? the Messiah who is to spring from Judah : but if so the expression of the hope is somewhat vague. More probably the reference is to the historical David. 1 i. e. the name of the Jewish people. Rebecca journeys with Jacob to Bethel (xxxi. -).

(49) And though indeed thou must walk here with thy Body in the dark Night among Thorns and Thistles, (so that the Devil and also this World does rend and tear thee, and not only buffet, despise, deride, and villify thee outwardly, but also many Times stop thy dear Mind, and lead it captive in the Lust of this World into the Bath [or Lake] of S wines,) yet then the noble Virgin will help thee still, and will call upon thee to desist from thy ungodly mWays.

(22) And he called Jacob and said : " My son Jacob, may the God of all bless thee and strengthen thee to do righteousness, and His will before Him, and may He choose thee and thy seed that ye may become a people for His inheritance according to His will alway. And do thou, my son, Jacob, draw near and kiss me."

(8) And when the Time came, that the true Champion, [or Saviour,] returned again out of Paradise, and became the Child of the Virgin, then the Strife of the three Principles a came again. For there he was again set before the tempting Tree, and he must endure the hard Brunt before the tempting Tree, and stand out the Temptation of the three Principles, which was not possible for the first Adam to do. And there the Strife continued forty Days and forty Nights, just so long as the Strife with Adam in Paradise continued, and not an Hour longer; and then the Champion [or Saviour] overcame. Therefore open your Eyes right, and look upon the Scripture right; although it be brief and obscure [to Reason,] yet it is very true.

(52) Men's fpraying for, prevails thus far; if a Soul hangs to the Thread of the new Regeneration, and that it is not a total Worm and Beast, and that it presses into God with an earnest Desire, and if there be true Christians [there,] which stand unfeignedly in the new Birth, and that their Spirit of the Soul (in their burning Love towards the poor Soul) does press into God with the Thread of the Band of the poor Soul, then indeed it helps the poor Soul to wrestle, and to break in Pieces the Chains of the Devil, especially if it be done before the poor soul be departed from the body; and especially by Parents, Children, Sisters, and Brothers, or Kindred of the Blood. For their Tinctures qualify [or mingle] therewith, as being generated from one and the same Blood; and the Spirit of their Soul enters much more freely and willingly into this great Combat, and gets Victory much sooner and more powerfully than Strangers, if they stand in the new Birth; but without the new Birth no Victory is gained. There is no Devil that does destroy another [Devil.]

(23) And he placed two fingers of Jacob on his eyes, and he blessed the God of gods, and he covered his face and stretched out his feet and slept the sleep of eternity, and was gathered to his fathers.