1   And it came to passe, when my sonne was entred into his inner chamber, he fel downe, and dyed:

2   and we al ouerthrewe the lights, and al my citizens rose vp to comfort me, and I was quiet vntil the other day at night.

3   And it came to passe, when al were quiet to comfort me, that I might be quiet: and I arose in the night, and fled: and came as thou seest into this field.

4   And I meane nowe not to returne into the citie, but to stay here: and neither to eate, nor drinke, but without intermission to mourne, and to fast vntil I dye.

5   And I left the talke wherin I was, and with anger answered her, & sayd:

6   Thou foole aboue al wemen, seest thou not our mourning, & what thinges chance to vs?

7   Because Sion our mother is sorroweful with al sorrowe, and humbled, and mourneth most bitterly.

8   And now wheras we al mourne, and are sadde: wheras we ate sorrowful, and art thou sorrowful for one sonne?

9   For aske the earth, and it wil tel thee: that it is she, that ought to lament the fal

of so manie thinges that spring vpon it.

10   And of her were al borne from the beginning, and others shal come: and behold, almost al walke into perdition, and the multitude of them commeth to destruction.

11   And who then ought to mourne more, but she that hath lost so great a multitude, rather then thou which art sorie for one?

12   And if thou say vnto me, that my mourning is not lyke the earthes: because I haue lost the fruite of my wombe, which I bare with sorrowes, and brought forth with paynes:

13   but the earth according to the maner of the earth, and the present multitude in it hath departed as it came: and I saye to thee,

14   as thou hast brought forth with payne, so the earth also geueth her fruite for man from the beginning to him that made her.

15   Now therfore kepe in with thy sorrowe, and beare stoutly the chances that haue befallen thee.

16   For if thou iustifie the end of God, thou shalt in time both receiue his counsel, and also in such thinges thou shalt be praysed.

17   Goe in therfore into the citie to thy husband. And she sayd to me:

18   I wil not doe it, neither wil I enter into the citie, but here wil I dye.

19   And I added yet to speake to her, & sayd:

20   Doe not this word, but consent to him that counseleth thee. For how manie are the chances of Sion? Take comfort for the sorrowe of Ierusalem.

21   For thou seest that our sanctification is made desert, and our altar is throwen downe, and our temple is destroyed,

22   and our psalter is humbled, and hymne is silent, and our exultation is dissolued, and the light of our candlesticke is extinguished, and the arke of our testament is taken for spoyle, & our holie thinges are contaminated, and the name that is inuocated vpon vs, is almost prophaned: and our children haue suffred contumelie, and our Priestes are burnt, & our Leuites are gone into captiuitie, & our virgins are defloured, and our wiues haue suffered rape, and our iust men are violently taken, and our litle ones are lost, and our yong men are in bondage, and our valiants are made impotent:

23   and that which is greatest of al, the seale of Sion, because she is vnsealed of her glorie: For she is also deliuered into the handes of them that hate vs.

24   Thou therfore shake of thy great heauines, and lay away from thee the multitude of sorrowes, that the Strong may be propicious to thee agayne, and the Highest wil geue thee rest, rest from thy labours.

25   And it came to passe, when I spake to her, her face did shine suddenly; and her shape, and her visage was made glistering, so that I was afrayde excedingly at her, & thought what this thing should be.

26   And Behold, suddenly she put forth a great sound of a voyce ful of feare, that the earth was moued at the womans sound. And I saw:

27   and behold, the woman did no more appeare vnto me, but a citie was built, & a place was shewed of great fundations: and I was afrayd, & crying with a loude voyce I sayd:

28   Where is Vriel the Angel, that from the beginning came to me? for he made me come in multitude in excesse of this minde, and my end is made into corruption, & my prayer into reproch.

29   And when I was speaking these thinges, behold he came to me, and sawe me.

30   And behold I was layd as dead, & my vnderstanding was alienated, and he held my right hand, and strengthned me, & set me vpon my feete, & sayd to me:

31   What ayleth thee? and why is thy vnderstanding, and the sense of thy hart trubled, & why art thou trubled? And I sayd:

32   Because thou hast forsaken me, and I in dede haue done according to thy wordes, & went out into the field: & behold, I haue seene, & doe see that which I cannot vtter. And he sayd to me:

33   Stand like a man, & I wil moue thee. And I sayd:

34   Speake thou my Lord in me, forsake me not, that I die not in vaine:

35   because I haue seene thinges that I knew not, & I doe heare thinges that I know not.

36   Or is my sense deceiued, & doth my soule dreame?

37   Now therfore I besech thee, that thou shew vnto thy seruant concerning this trance. And he answered me, & sayd:

38   Heare me, and I wil teach thee, and wil tel thee of what thinges thou art afrayd: because the Highest hath reuealed vnto thee manie mysteries.

39   He hath seene thy right way, that without intermission thou was sorrowful for thy people, and didst mourne exceedingly for Sion.

40   This therfore is the vnderstanding of the vision which appeared to thee a litle before.

41   The woman whom thou sawest mourning, thou beganst to comfort her.

42   And now thou seest not the forme of the woman, but there appeared to thee a citie to be built.

43   And because she tolde thee of the fal of her sonne, this is the interpretation.

44   This woman which thou sawest, she is Sion, and wheras she told thee of her, whom now also thou shalt see, as a citie builded.

45   And wheras she told thee, that she was barren thirtie yeares: for the which there were thirtie yeares, when there was not yet oblation offered in it.

46   And it came to passe after thirtie yeares, Salomon built the citie, and offered oblations: then it was, when the barren bare a childe.

47   And that which she sayd vnto thee, that she nourished him with labour, this was the habitation in Ierusalem.

48   And wheras she sayd

to thee, that my sonne comming into the bryde chamber dyed, and that a fal chanced vnto him, this was the ruine of Ierusalem that is made.

49   And behold, thou hast seene the similitude of her: and because she lamented her sonne, thou beganst to comfort her: and of these thinges that haue chanced, these were to be opened to thee.

50   And now the Highest seeth that thou wast sorie from the hart: and because with thy whole hart thou sufferest for her, he hath shewed thee the clearnes of her glorie, and the fayrenes of her beautie.

51   For therfore did he say to thee, that thou shoulest tarie in a field where house is not built.

52   For I knew that the Highest beganne to shew thee these thinges:

53   therfore I sayd vnto thee, that thou shouldest goe into a field, where is no fundation of building.

54   For the worke of mans building could not be borne in the place, where the citie of the Highest began to be shewed.

55   Thou therfore feare not, neither let thy hart dread: but goe in, and see the beautie, and greatnes of the building, as much as the sight of thyne eyes is capable to see:

56   & afterward thou shalt heare as much, as the hearing of thyne eares is capable to heare.

57   For thou art blessed aboue manie, and art called with the Highest as few.

58   And to morrow night thou shalt tarie here:

59   and the Highest wil shew thee those visions of the thinges on high, which the Highest wil doe to them that inhabite vpon the earth in the later dayes.

60   And I slept that night, and the other next, as he had sayd to me.

Previous section

Next section