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(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.

(2) O you High-Priests and Scribes, what Answer will you make to Christ, when you shall be found thus [at his Coming?] Or do you suppose you stand in the Dark? No, you stand in the Presence of the clear Countenance of Jesus Christ, who is Judge of the Quick and Dead; do but open your Eyes, and rightly feed the Flock of Jesus Christ; he comes and demands them of you. You are not all Shepherds or Pastors, but intruded covetous Wolves; you rely on your School- Art, [or University-Learning and Scholarship.] O, that avails nothing in the Presence of God; the Holy Ghost speaks not from that, he would not be bound up. If you will be Pastors, then you must hold out in the Temptation, and put on the Garment of the Lamb in your Heart; you must not take the Wool of the Sheep only from them, but you must give them the Food of the Holy Spirit in true Love, and be Practisers of it yourselves. But how will you give it, if you be in the Wilderness still, and have chosen the Kingdom of this World to yourselves in the last Temptation? What shall be said of you? Is not the Anger broke out and burning? Carry Fuel to it, for Babel is on Fire, the Water is dried up. Or what have I to do with thee, that I must write thus?

(24) Or what thinkest thou, if thy Twig be thus very dry and withered, and that thou must eternally swelter in the Anger of God, where instantly thy human Image will be taken away, and thou wilt be in the a Shape of the most abominable Beasts, Worms, and Serpents, all according to thy Deeds and Practice here, where then all thy Deeds will stand in the Figure in the Tincture eternally before thy Eyes, and will gnaw thee sufficiently, so that thou wilt continually think, if thou hadst not done this or that, thou shouldst have attained the Grace of God? Thy Mocking stands before thy Eyes, and thou art ashamed to let the least good Thought into thy Soul; for Good is as an Angel before thee, and thou darest not (for great Shame) so much as to touch it with thy Mind, much less look upon it. But thou must eternally devour into thyself thy great Scorning, with all thy Vices and Sins, and thou must eternally despair; and though thou thinkest to go forth after Abstinence, yet the Light strikes thee down again, and so thou goest but forth aloft (in thy devouring fretting Worm, in thyself) without the Thrones of God; and it is with thee, as with one who stands upon a high stony Cliff of a Rock, and would cast himself into a bottomless Gulf; and the further he sees, the deeper he falls. Thus thy own Sins, Scornings, Deridings, Cursings in Contempt of God, are thy Hell-fire, which gnaws thee eternally; this I speak in the Word of Life.

(5) Circling around it sang, and said: "As are My notes to thee, who dost not comprehend them, Such is the eternal judgment to you mortals." Those lucent splendours of the Holy Spirit Grew quiet then, but still within the standard That made the Romans reverend to the world. It recommenced: "Unto this kingdom never Ascended one who had not faith in Christ, Before or since he to the tree was nailed. But look thou, many crying are, 'Christ, Christ!' Who at the judgment shall be far less near To him than some shall be who knew not Christ. Such Christians shall the Ethiop condemn, When the two companies shall be divided, The one for ever rich, the other poor. What to your kings may not the Persians say, When they that volume opened shall behold In which are written down all their dispraises? There shall be seen, among the deeds of Albert, That which ere long shall set the pen in motion, For which the realm of Prague shall be deserted. There shall be seen the woe that on the Seine He brings by falsifying of the coin, Who by the blow of a wild boar shall die.

(44) And thy worldly Bravery, Glory, Beauty, and Riches, will not exalt thee before God, as thou supposest, nor yet thy Office which thou didst bear here, be it the kingly or priestly Office; if thou desirest to be in Heaven, then thou must (through thy Saviour) be new born; thou must endeavour to bring thy Subjects to Righteousness, and then thou wilt shine (with thy Office) as bright as the Luster of Heaven, and thy Works will follow thee. O Man! consider thyself in this.

(25) Therefore, O dear Soul, turn, and let not the Devil captivate thee, and regard not the Scorn of the World; all thy Sorrow must be turned into great Joy. And though in this World thou hast not great Honour, Power, and Riches, that is nothing; thou knowest not, whether Tomorrow will be the Day it will come to thy Turn [to die.] Does not a Bit of Bread taste better to the Needy, than the best Dainties to the great Ones? What Advantage has the rich Man then, but that he sees much, and must be tormented and vexed in many Things, and in the End must give an Account of all his Doings and Stewardship, and how he has been a Planter in this World? He must give an Account of all his Servants, and if he has been an evil Example to them, and has been a Scandal to them, so that they have walked in ungodly Ways, then their poor Souls cry eternally cfor Vengeance upon those their Superiors; there all stands in the Figure in the Tincture. Why dost thou contend and strive so much after worldly Honour that is transitory? Rather endeavour for the Tree of Pearl, which thou earnest along with thee, and shalt rejoice eternally in its Growing and Fruit.

(78) Therefore beware of the Longing [Lust or Desire;] and say not in thyself, I stand in the Dark, the Lord sees me not, [nor] what I think and do. He stands in the Gate of the Mind, where the Soul stands (before the clear Face of God) in the opened Gate; and all thy Abominations are known before God, and thou makest the Element of God blush [or change Colour] with them; thou grievest the chaste Virgin (which dwells in her own Center, and is given to be a Companion to thee in thy Mind) and makest her sad; she warns thee of the Way of the Ungodly; if thou followest [her Counsel,] and turnest, and breakest in unto her, by earnest Repentance, then she crowns thee in thy Mind with Wisdom and Understanding, that thou mayest then very well avoid the Devil; but if they doest not, then thou fallest out of one Sin and Abomination into another, and makest thy Measure full and running over, and then the Devil helps thee into his Kingdom, and thou art very serviceable to him; for thou art a true Scourge to the Children of God, not only with Reproaching, but also in Deeds [or in the Work of thy Hands,] which the Devil dares not do; thou doest him acceptable service. He amuses thee finely with the Name [i of God,] so that thou bringest forth from thy Lips, and teachest it; but thy Heart is a Thief and

(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.

(27) There is nothing that is nearer you than Heaven, Paradise, and Hell, unto which of them you are inclined, and to which of them you rend [or walk,] to that in this [Life] Time you are most near: You are between both. And there is a Birth between each of them; you stand in this World between both the Gates, and you have both the Births in you: God beckons to you in the one Gate, and calls you; and the Devil beckons you in the other Gate, and calls you; with whom you go, with him you enter in. The Devil has in his Hand Power, Honour, Pleasure, and [worldly] Joy, and the Root of these is Death and Hell-fire. On the contrary, God has in his Hands, Crosses, Persecution, Misery, Poverty, Ignominy, and Sorrow; and the Root of these is a Fire also, and in the Fire [there is] a Light, and in the Light the Virtue, and in the Virtue [or Power] the Paradise, and in the Paradise [are] the Angels, and among the Angels Joy. The gross Eyes cannot behold it, because they are from the third Principle, and see only by the Splendor of the Sun; but when the Holy Ghost comes into the Soul, then he regenerates it anew in God, and then it becomes a paradisical Child, and gets the Key of Paradise, and that Soul sees into the Midst thereof.

(15) Therefore, thou Child of Man, take Heed, let not your Ears be amused: When you hear the false Shepherds [or Pastors] judge and condemn the Children of Christ, that is not the Voice of Christ, but of Antichrist; the Way to Paradise has quite another Entrance; your Heart must with all your Power and Strength be directed to God [or Goodness;] and as God desires that all Men should be saved, so his Will is that we should help to bear one another's Burden, [and bear with one another,] and friendly, soberly, and modestly meet one another with Entreaties in the Holy Ghost, and seek with Earnestness the [Salvation] and Welfare of our Neighbour in Humility, and wish heartily that he might be freed from Vanity, and enter with us into the Garden of Roses.

(4) "Those souls then will knock at the gates of the Light, saying: Lord, open unto us! And I will answer unto them: I know you not, whence ye are. And they will say unto me: We have received of thy mysteries and fulfilled thy whole teaching and thou hast taught us on the high ways. And I will answer and say unto them: I know you not, who ye are, ye who are doers of iniquity and of evil even unto now. Wherefor go into the outer darkness. And from that hour they will go into the outer darkness, there where is howling and grinding of teeth. "For this cause then, herald unto the whole world and say unto them: 'Strive thereafter, to renounce the whole world and the whole matter therein, that ye may receive the mysteries of the Light before the number of the perfect souls is completed, in order that they may not make you stop before the gates of the Light and. lead you away into the outer darkness.' "Now, therefore, who hath ears to hear, let him hear."

(42) O thou blind Mind, with thy Might and Stateliness, full of Wickedness and devilish fierce Wrath, [wilt thou know where thou art after that thy Body perishes?] Thou art even with all the Devils, in the Abyss of Hell, if thou dost not turn, and by earnest unfained Sorrow and Repentance for thy Abominations, enter into the angelical Footsteps, that the Saviour and Treader upon the Serpent of fierce Wrath, Wickedness, Lying, and Deceit, may meet thee, and embrace thee in his Arms, and [that thou] mayest be new-born in him, and be yielded up into the Bosom of the chaste Virgin, and become an Angel; or else thou art in the eternal Death, in the eternal Darkness, and canst not in all Eternity reach the Kingdom of God any more.

(15) Where is now thy Authority, thy Honour, thy Riches, thy Pomp and Bravery, thy Power, wherewith thou hast terrified the Needy, and hast made the Right bow and bend to thy Will? Behold, it is all in Substance, and stands before thee; the Oppressed read thy Lesson to thee; all that was rightly spoken [by thee] in this World, is there recalled again, and thou abidest (in thy Unrighteousness) in Falshood; all Lying and Deceit stand manifest in the Substance, all thy Words stand in the Tincture in the Substance of Eternity before thee, and are thy Looking-glass; they will be thy eternal gnawing Whelps, and the Book of thy Comfort and Trust. Therefore do but think what thou wilt do; wilt thou not then curse and judge thyself?

(23) And what then will thy Gold and Silver, thy Money, Goods, Honour, and Authority, which thou hadst here, avail thee, when thou must leave all, and part from them? What will it profit thee, that thou hast scorned and contemned the Children of God? Also, what will thy Covetousness and Envy avail thee, now thyself must swelter therein with great Shame and Anguish, where thou hast so great Shame before the Angels of God, and where all the Devils mock thee, that thou hast been God's Branch, and hast had so long a Time [that thou mightest have been a great Tree,] and art now but a dry withered Twig?

(17) Here will the Prince and Arch-Shepherd pronounce his Sentence, saying to the kGodly;i Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom that has been prepared for you from the Beginning; I have been hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, in Prison and Misery, and you have fed me, given me Drink, clothed me, comforted me, and visited me, and have come and helped me in my Misery, therefore enter into eternal Joys. And they will answer, Lord, when have we seen thee hungry, thirsty, naked, in Prison, or in Misery, and have served thee? And he will say, What you have done to the least of these my Brethren, you have done that to me. And to the Wicked he will say, Away from me, ye Cursed, into the eternal Fire; for I have been hungry, thirsty, naked, in Prison, and in Misery, and you have never ministered unto me. And they will answer, Lord, when have we seen thee so, and not ministered to thee? And he will say, What you have not done to the least of these my poor Brethren, that you have not done to me; and they must depart from him.

(49) O thou Knave, if thou bringest not another Man than such to it, stay away from the Testament of Christ; thou art but art in such a Way; thy Prayer is false, it comes not from the Bottom of the Heart; thy Heart desires only the Pleasures of this World, and the a Driver receives thy Prayer, he is thy God; therefore consider what thou dost.

(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.

(101) Thou blind Minister to the Kingdom of Antichrist, when thou sayest Mass for Souls, how is it, that sometimes thou takest upon thee to ransom a Soul which is in Heaven, or altogether in the Abyss with the Devil? Dost thou not think that the Devil mocks thee? Or how canst thou help them that are in Heaven? Thou criest out [and sayest,] They are in Pain [and Torment,] and thou art a Liar in the Presence of God. And how then will that holy Soul bless thee, and give thee Thanks? How is it, when thou thyself art in the Abyss with all Devils, that thou standest, and wilt ransom others out of Purgatory, and that for Money, which thou afterwards spendest with Whores? O fie upon thee! thou great Whore [or Harlot,] how hast thou made for thyself a heavenly Kingdom upon Earth, for thy Voluptuousness, and deceivest the poor Soul of Man? Thou must either turn, or go into the eternal Purgatory.

(73) There is an eye of justice, which sees all. For two ways, as we deem, to Hades lead- One for the good, the other for the bad. But if the earth hides both for ever, then Go plunder, steal, rob, and be turbulent. But err not. For in Hades judgment is, Which God the Lord of all will execute, Whose name too dreadful is for me to name, Who gives to sinners length of earthly life.

(2) It is well for thee to think fearfully of thyself here as of a living fish, much more so for the sinner to dread the fierce anguish of hell. Thou art burnt if warm water touch thee, tender creature that thou art; and when thou doest damnable sins, how canst thou sit thus comfortably? 0 wretched soul, that longest for reward unearned by striving, thou that art so tender and much afflicted, thou immortal, thou art devoured by Death, and undone! Thou hast found the ship of manhood; then sail in it across the broad river of sorrow. Fool, this is no time for slumber; it will be hard to find the ship again. How canst thou forsake the noble delight in the Law, which brings an endless course of comforts, and find pleasure in wantonness, mirth, and other like sources of sorrow?