(64) But thou mad World, what shall the Spirit say [of thee?] art thou not my Brother? The Essences of my Spirit stir thee, go forth out of thy Beast, and then I go with my Companions into the Garden of Roses, into the Lily of God. Why keepest thou back, and sufferest thyself to be held by the Devil? Is he not thy Enemy, he does but hunt after thy Pearl; and if he gets it, then thy Spirit becomes a Worm and Beast in its Figure. Why sufferest thou thy angelical Image to be taken away, for temporal Pleasure Sake? Thy Pleasure is only in the corruptible Beast. But what does that avail the Soul? If thou dost not go out from it, thou wilt get eternal Woe and Sorrow by it.

(34) Or shall not the Spirit set it down before thy Eyes, thou lascivious filthy Strumpet? Behold, how hast thou broken the State of Wedlock, and opened a Door to Whoredom, so that no Sin is regarded; hast thou not ridden i upon thy Beast, when every one gazed on thee, and rode after thee [in thy Train?] Or art thou not that fine painted [adorned Whore?] Dost thou suppose we set thee forth in vain? The Judgment stands over thee, the Sword is begotten, and it will devour. Go out [from] Babel, and thou shalt live; though we saw a Fire in Babel, and that Babel was burning, yet it shall not burn those that go out from kit.

(50) And xhere, thou fair lascivious Whore in Babel, full of Immodesty and Lechery, in such Whoredom thou hast a Gloss in thy [evil or] false Copulation without the Fear of God; thou shouldst look [well to it] what thou sowest, that there grows not a Tree in Hell-Fire. Thou supposest that it is a small Matter to commit Whoredom. But I pray consider thyself, whither dost thou send thy Tincture? Which, if it be true [or faithful,] reaches the Element of God; and now, if you pour it forth thus, in such a false [or evil] Way, in the Impulsion of the Region of the Stars, with the Infection of the Devil, and also into such an unclean Vessel, what dost thou suppose shall accept it? Dost thou not know that the Tincture in the Seed is a Blossom of the Life, which qualifies [or mingles] with thy Body and Soul, which (as often as it is generated) is a Figure before God? How dost thou think, whether does it stand in the Love, or Anger of God? 51.0 thou Babylonish Whore, when thou thus committest Whoredom, and breakest afterwards the Limbus, together with the Matrix, wherein the Figure of the Image of God stands, only for thy filthy Lechery Sake; what dost thou think, how shall this Figure appear? Seeing all (whatsoever is generated at any Time out of the Tincture) shall after the Breaking of this World stand before God. And will not these Figures appear in the Anger of God? Or hast thou an Absolution for that which thou sowest in Hell? Look to it that this Figure does not qualify [or mingle] with thy Body and Soul; for the Tincture [then] is not yet become the Blood of Christ) then thou must bathe [swim or swelter] therein eternally. It is not I that say this, but the high Spirit in the Bosom of the Virgin.

(50) Behold, thou noble Mind, thou who desirest the Kingdom of God, to thee we speak, and not to the Antichrist in Babel, who desires nothing else but the Kingdom of this World; take Notice of it, the Time of Sleep is past, the Bridegroom comes, for the Bride says, Come, be in Earnest, gaze not at the Hand that used this Pen, it is another Pen that has written this, which neither thou nor I do know; for the Mind (if it be faithful) apprehends the Deity; and do not so slight thyself; if thou art born in God, then thou art greater and more than all this World.

(15) Thy proud Horse [or Beast,] thou shameful Whore, shall ride no longer alone over the bended Knees; in that Time it will no more be said, The Power [Might or Authority] sticks in my Chest of Money; that Mineral [or Metal] becomes a Blossom in the Light; and the Tincture stands in the Blossom of the Lily; Stones are of as much worth [as that Metal is;] the Clothing of the Virgin is brighter than thy Pride. How finely does the Ornament of this World stand on Modesty and the Fear of God, if the Heart be humble? How does thy silken and golden Clothes adorn thee? Dost thou not appear in God's Deeds of Wonder? Who will call thee a false Woman, if thou be so very chaste? Dost thou not stand to the Honour of the Great God? Art thou not his Work of Wonder? Is there not a friendly laughter before thee? Who can say that thou art a wrathful Woman? Thy modest Countenance shines over Mountains and Valleys. Art thou not at the End of the World, and [will not] thy Glance [or Luster] be espied in Paradise? Wherefore stands thy Mother in Babel, and so very malicious? O! thou shameful Whore; get thee out, for Babel is % on Fire, or else thou wilt be burnt thyself.

(16) Or dost thou suppose that we are mad? If we did not see thee, we would be silent. Thou boastest now (by the Flatterers) of a golden Time; but they are most of them Wolves of Babel; when the Day breaks, then they will be known. Or should I not tell thee this, thou proud Whore? Behold, when thou with Adam and Eve wentest out of Paradise into the Spirit of this World, then thou wast as a God in the Spirit of this World; thou Slightest seek all Mysteries, and use them for thy Ornament. If thou hadst always gone cloathed in Silk and Purple, [or Scarlet,] yet thou hadst not [thereby] offended God; but thou hadst gone [in them] to the Honour of the great God in his Deeds of Wonder. Why hast thou forsaken the Love, and art become a Murderer? Was not Covetousness thy Sin, in that thou affordest not thy Members so much as thyself? Thou desirest to be only fine thyself alone. Thy Way only i should be holy. Wherefore was the Fratricide between Abel and Cain? The self-honouring Pride brought it about, so that Cain envied Abel's Uprightness, for the Sake of which he was so much beloved of God. Why was not Cain also humble and pious?

(1) LOOK up now, weak wretch, and see what thou art. What art thou, and what hast thou merited, thus to be called of our Lord? What weary wretched heart, and sleeping in sloth, is that, the which is not wakened with the draught of this love and the voice of this calling! Beware, thou wretch, in this while with thine enemy; and hold thee never the holier nor the better, for the worthiness of this calling and for the singular form of living that thou art in. But the more wretched and cursed, unless thou do that in thee is goodly, by grace and by counsel, to live after thy calling. And insomuch thou shouldest be more meek and loving to thy ghostly spouse, that He that is the Almighty God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, would meek Him so low unto thee, and amongst all the flock of His sheep so graciously would choose thee to be one of His specials, and sithen set thee in the place of pasture, where thou mayest be fed with the sweetness of His love, in earnest of thine heritage the Kingdom of Heaven.

(33) O thou confounded Babel, go out from Antichrist, and come (with a penitent Heart and Mind) before thy merciful Brother, and Saviour of all Men; he will more readily hear thee, than thou come to him. Step only out of this wicked Babel into a new Birth, and be not so much in Love with the Kingdom of this World; thou art but a mere Guest and Stranger in it. What avails thee, thy i transitory Honour [from Men,] which scarce lasts one Moment? Thou shalt indeed get much greater [surpassing] Joy and Honour in the new Regeneration, where the holy Souls in the Heaven, and the Angels will rejoice with thee. Consider what Joy and Gladness thou wilt stir up thereby in the Heart of Jesus Christ, where then instantly the precious Talent (the Holy Ghost) will be given thee, and thou wilt get the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, that thou thyself mayest open it. Or dost thou think it is not true? Do but seek and try with an earnest Mind, and thou wilt find Wonders indeed; thou thyself shalt know, [understand,] and (without any Doubt at all) assuredly see in thy Mind, out of what School this is wrote.

(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.

(17) O, what sharp Thorns the Devil has brought into the Sport of Love, that we practise such proud Contention in the noble Knowledge, insomuch that Men bind up the Holy Ghost with Laws! What are Laws in the Kingdom of Christ, who has made us free, that we should walk in him in the Holy Ghost? To what Purpose are they invented, but for the Pleasure of Antichrist, who thereby struts in Might and Pomp, and is God on Earth? O fly from him, thou Child of Man, the Time is come for us to awake from the Sleep of Antichrist. Christ comes with the fair Lily out of Paradise in the Valley of Jehosaphat: It is Time for them to trim their Lamps that will go to the Marriage [of the Lamb.] The Gate [or the Explanation.]

(38) Besides, I hear a great Howling and Lamentation, that all thy Servants cry Woe over thee, because thou plaguest them; and moreover, thou hast shed my noble Seed, and not sown it, but [thou hast sown] thy wild [Seed] for [the promoting of] thy great Devouring and Pomp. Behold, I have spewed thee out towards Babel in the Press of my fierce Wrath, and there I will press thee; and I will plant my Lily-Branch in my Garden of Roses, which brings me forth Fruit, after which my Soul lusts, of which my sick Adam shall eat, that he may be strong, and may go into Paradise. Of the Thrusting Adam and Eve out of the Paradise of the Garden in Eden.

(29) What can be said of thee, O Cain? Dost thou suppose that God does not see thee? Thou monstrous Beast, thou shalt stand naked, as the Spirit in the Wonders signifies, that thy Ornament may be made known. How art thou become thus? O Eve! are not all thy Children, which thou hast brought forth, all come out of thy Loins? Was it then the Purpose of God that the Evil should domineer among the Good, and one plague another?

(72) O how have all the Prophets written of thee, and yet thou knowest not thyself; thou ridest so upon thy fat pampered Beast, and that Riding pleases thee so well, that thou wilt rather go to the Devil into the Abyss of Hell, than that thou wilt light off thy Beast. What shall become of thee then, thou blind Babel? Do but light off from thy great ugly Beast, [which indeed is] thy Might, Pomp, State, and Pride. Behold! thy Bridegroom comes, and reaches forth his Hand to thee, and would lead thee out of Babel.

(82) I only said, "Is it right? " and He forsook me. Why dost Thou flee from the cries of us on earth? Why pourest Thou sorrow on the heart of the sorrowful? O Thou who, as each new morn dawns from the east, Art seen uprising anew, like a bright fountain! What excuse makest Thou for Thy witcheries? O Thou whose lips are sweeter than sugar, Thou that ever renewest the life of this old world, Hear the cry of this lifeless body and heart! But, for God's sake, leave off telling of the Rose;

(17) Wilt thou say, the Devil beguiled him? Yes indeed, and he beguiles thee too, so that thou enviest the Comeliness and Beauty of others. Has God made thee a Degree higher? Art thou not a Child of Eve? Pray tell me the Truth, Art thou not the Antichrist, which under a Cloak [of being counted the Minister and Servant of God] ridest upon the Devil's Horse? Methinks I see thee. Hearken! When thou wentest out of Paradise into this World, why didst thou not continue in one [only] Love? Why didst thou not rejoice in thy Neighbour? Why didst thou not love the Members of thy Body? Why dost thou not adorn thy Brother with thy Ornament? Didst thou not see him plainly? Was not the Earth thy own? Thou mightest have made what thou wouldst of it. Who did hinder thee in it? Why didst thou not eat with thy Brother? Thou mightest have had fully enough; there would never have been any Want. If thy Humility towards thy Brother had continued, then his also had continued towards thee. And then what a fine Habitation and Dwelling had there been upon Earth? What need had there been for thee to have coined Silver and Gold, if Unity had continued? Thou mightest have made thy Ornaments of it well enough; if thou hadst adorned thy Brother and Sister, then they would have adorned thee again with their ready serviceable Love. Dost thou think it had been of thy Brother, and to the Honour of the great God?

(37) Thou wild Beast, how comest thou so great and strong? Hast thou not trampled in my Garden of Roses, and there made thee a Couch? Where are thy Brothers and Sisters? How comes it to pass, that they lie at thy Feet, and that they are so lean, and thou only art strong [and lusty?] Hast thou not devoured my Branches, and brought forth young Wolves, which devour thy I suffer thee in my Garden of Roses? Where is the noble Fruit which I sowed? Have you not turned them all into wild Branches? And where now shall I seek for the Fruit and Profit of my Garden of Roses? My Soul would fain eat of the good Fruit, but thou hast trampled all under-foot, and made it a Den of Murder.

(109) Dost thou ask why? Behold, I will tell thee, thou art Cain the Lord of the World, for thou hast made thyself so; and now Abel is thy Servant, who is entered into this World as a Guest, yet he stands and desires to be gone out of this World into his native Country, which thou canst not endure; thou pressest him to the Ground, two Manner of Ways, very subtilly, and in Self-Power. First with thy hypocritical false Doctrine, [teaching or preaching] Babel, where he shall and must believe whatsoever thou P prescribest him, without the Spirit of God, that thereby thou mayest but strengthen thy gorgeous fat Kingdom, whereby thou drawest him away from God, into the Spirit of this World, so that he must gape upon thy Prating; and if he does not so, then thou murderest him, as Abel [was murdered.] 1 10. And secondly, thou hast set thyself to be Lord over him, and hast made him thy Slave, and so bravest it over him, as the proud Woman of this World, thou vexest him Day and Night, and consumest his Sweat in High-mindedness, all according to the tFury of the Wrath [or Fierceness.] And so he sticks not only in the Darkness, but [also] in great Misery, Cares, and Perplexity, and seeks Ways to get out of them, and how to come to the Light again, and escape the Driver.

(40) Do not behold thyself, thou blind Mind, and consider thyself, where is thy angelical Form in thee? Why art thou so angry, stern, [fierce, froward,] and malicious? Wherefore dost thou elevate thyself still in thy Wickedness, in Pride, in Might [or Authority,] and Pomp, and boasteth thyself for a brave and potent Beast? What is it that thou dost? Wherefore hast thou High and Low. let the Spirit of this World into thee, which seduces thee (as it lists) into High-mindedness, into [proud] Stoutness, into P Potency and Pomp, into Covetousness and Lying, into Falshood and Treachery, as also into Sickness and Corruption, [or Frailty?]

(45) Then said the Virgin; Why wilt thou use Violence? Am I not thy Ornament, and thy Crown? I am bright, and thou art dark; behold, if thou coverest me, then thou hast no Glance [or Luster;] and [then] thou art a dark [dusky or black] Worm: And [then] how can I dwell with thee? Let me alone; I [will] not give myself to be thy own: I will give thee my Ornament, and thou shall live in my Joy, thou shalt eat of my Fruit, and taste my Sweetness; but thou canst not qualify with me; for the divine Virtue is my Essence, therein is my fair [or orient] Pearl, and my bright [shining] Light generated; my Fountain is eternal: If thou darkenest my Light, and defilest my Garment, then thou wilt have no Beauty [or Luster,] and canst not subsist, but thy Worm [will corrupt or] destroy thee, and so I shall lose my Companion, which I had chosen for my Bridegroom, with whom I meant to have rejoiced; and then my Pearl and Beauty would have no i Company: Seeing I have given myself to be thy Companion for my Joy's Sake; if thou wilt not enjoy my Beauty, yet pray continue in my Ornament and Excellence, and dwell with me in Joy, I will adorn thee eternally.

(115) And now what hast thou to expect, thou proud Bride of Babel, for thy stately Pride, from the Spirit of this World, that thou servest it so faithfully? Behold, thou hast a threefold [Reward to expect;] first, that the Spirit of this World leaves thee, and departs from thee, and tears away thy proud Body from thee, and turns it to Dust and Ashes; and it takes thy Goods, Power, and Pomp, and gives them to another, and torments him for a while therein.