INTRODUCTION TO FIRST MESSAGE

There have been so very many afflictions overtaking the nations of the earth in recent years, so many disasters by sea and upon land, of appalling magnitude, and now this greatest of all the wars of history, that I was induced to seek the word of the Lord, if it might be obtained as in the days of Israel, that Christian people might come to know the will of God, and learn the reason for the increasing severity of His overruling providence.

And knowing, from repeated examples of Scripture, that supplications became effective most frequently when accompanied with fasting, I was minded to abstain from eating for a little season.

Accordingly, I took no food for several days; to be explicit, for seven days. And afterwards ate for a short time, that is, for seven days also. Then again fasted for another seven days; and after the respite as before fasted again; and so continued until I had fasted seven times seven days.

And I saw in a vision of the night, a great and ferocious bull that was terrible to look upon, for he was exceedingly angry. A dreadful power was in his flanks, and he strode the earth up and down looking and waiting.

And I determined upon extending the fast a little longer and accordingly, after a respite of three days, continued to fast for three days more. Whereupon my attention was drawn to the fact that I had fasted altogether one-seventh of the year, and that forty-five days had elapsed between.

And in a vision of the night, the Father came and laid before me a tablet of a manuscript; and another said to me that I should write; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon me that I should write, even the Word of the Lord.

And in the month of April, 1916, the First Message of the Word of the Lord was received and it was published in December, 1917.

FIRST MESSAGE

SECTION I.

1. And on the sixth day of April in the year 1916, came the word of the Lord to me, Harry Edgar Baker, of the city of Chicago, son of James Heaton Baker, who was of the city of Mankato, saying, Thus saith the Lord:

2. Be still, and listen together, all ye children of men. Let the ends of the earth harken, and the nations consider. And all who inhabit remote places, or dwell upon the islands of the sea, or who roam in the wilderness, or make their abode on the ships that navigate the deep, yea, let all that live hear the word of the Lord. For behold, I am the Almighty God, and my voice findeth the ear of every creature, and my word searcheth the secret chamber of every soul.

3. The earth, with every valley, and every mountain, and all the plains thereof, is mine; and in me is the destiny of every man that dwelleth thereon; for my hands have made them, and in the day that I made them I gave them their free-agency; but I will require an accounting of their stewardship, saith the Lord of Hosts.

4. Hearken, therefore, unto me, for I have chosen a day of bloodshed and of great wickedness, and of many abominations, to send forth my word again unto you, O inhabitants of the earth; yea, even to speak unto you as in days of old. For in your times of peace you lightly regard the word of God. You seek continually the riches of the world wherein you find many pleasures, and pursue many engagements, and do not pause to consider, but go on in your works of darkness, filling the cup of your iniquity, and bringing everlasting condemnation upon your souls.

5. Wherefore, I have chosen a time, in the midst of your afflictions, to plead with you and to enlighten you, that you may waken from your sleep, yea, from that deep slumber which is upon the multitudes of the wicked; that peradventure some may be admonished and made humble, and repent and turn unto me and be rescued from that utter destruction which will come upon the wicked in the judgments which are yet to be poured out upon them without measure.

SECTION II.

1. Wherefore, I the Lord your God, even your Redeemer, who was made to pay the price of his blood for your transgressions, and to suffer for your sins, lo, I call upon the nations everywhere to repent.

2. Turn therefore, O ye children of men, turn ye from all your cruelties, from your murders and your robberies, from your false swearing and your cunning hypocrisies, from the plundering of widows and orphans, and from profaning my name to speak it foolishly and from your whoredoms, and from self-destruction. And turn ye from all your false doctrines and creeds and cults and churches, which abound in all nations, unto the utter leading away of your souls.

3. And I call upon you to cease your tyrannies over one another, and your unjust exactions of the laborer, and your disregard for the destitute and the helpless. Cease to usurp power, and to wrench from the people the just right of self-government. Cease to enter into secret combinations of conspiracy, to get gain and commit murder and whoredoms and frauds; for I am the Lord, into whose hands the Father hath committed the nations, and I will punish the children of men who do any of these things.

4. Already there is much weeping in your midst because of the judgments upon you, but I say unto you, there shall be great wailing among you, and even the gnashing of teeth against me, saith the Lord; and this generation shall not escape.

5. For, behold, mine angels have drawn the sword of their righteous vengeance upon the wicked, and it cannot be sheathed again, until they have avenged the blood of mine Apostles, and the blood of many saints and righteous men and martyrs, which the inhabitants of the earth have shed, they and their fathers, because of their exceeding great wickedness, and their many lusts, and their hateful abominations, in this and in all the generations which have passed since the proclamation of my Gospel, in the meridian of time.

6. But a little season remaineth, and then shall the earth be cleansed. I will break in pieces and throw down and destroy, until all nations shall feel my chastening rod and drink my bitter cup.

7. For there has gone forth a decree which cannot be annulled, that the nations of the earth, shall be humbled, even unto the dust; and their governments of greed, entailed with the barbarisms of an age of darkness, will I beat down one after another, in this the day of my fierce chastisements, which I have reserved unto this generation, because it is near unto the hour of my coming.

8. But those people which shall remain, will I favor, saith the Lord. They shall rise in meekness, and in righteousness, out of the wrecks of their ruined empires; and I will provide new states and just governments; that all men may enjoy that equality of rights, which the Father designed for them even from the beginning; but which has been sacrificed to the free-agency of man.

9. And I will cause them to grow and to multiply, and fill again the waste places; and wax strong in the Lord, and great upon the earth. Hear it ye nations that are now at peace, and ye nations that are at war, hear it together.

SECTION III.

1. Behold, the time is fully ripe, when my word must go forth unto all men; yea, and be translated into all tongues and languages; for I will not suffer that it shall continue to be held back from the world.

2. Whether there be faith in the earth, or whether there be no faith, whether there be truth in the earth, or whether there be no truth, I am the Lord, the Almighty, and I am able to make a way; for since the world began I have spoken by the mouths of prophets. I have raised them up and sent them. Notwithstanding they have been stoned, yea, and slain, and their messages rent and trampled under foot, even by Israel my chosen, yet I have sent them.

3. See now mine Israel of this generation, that you do it not; for I will not be mocked in these latter days. A swift judgment shall overtake the mocker, even a judgment that shall commence in the House of the Lord. Ye are the House of the Lord, even mine Israel of the last dispensation.

4. Be silent therefore, all you that know the Lord; while I smite the wicked with the sword of my mouth, and rebuke the nations which know me not. For if you lift your voice against me, saith the Lord, you are as they which stoned the prophets; and if you revile, as they which shed the blood of mine Apostles.

5. Take heed therefore, unto yourselves, for I say unto you that in the days which are to follow I will not suffer a mocker to make his dwelling upon the land of the footstool of God; and in the land of promise, my judgments shall flash as the lightning.

SECTION IV.

1. Nevertheless the children of Judah, whose forefathers railed in mockery at their Messiah, have come in remembrance before me; that my covenants with the House of Israel might be kept, and the words of the prophets fulfilled.

2. For lo, I the Lord, remove the curse which has rested upon Judah, now these many generations; even the curse of blindness, and that bitter curse of the hatred of men. Which blindness fell upon their fathers, because they rejected their Messiah, for whom they were looking; and who truly appeared in that generation, as the prophets and the seers of Israel had foretold; for these had prepared the way.

3. And John also, a notable prophet, from the loins of Judah, was sent before him as a messenger and a forerunner, to prepare his coming, and to make his path plain and straight in the sight of Israel; and, as the record of John's ministry declares, there went out unto him all the land of Judea, and they of Jerusalem.

4. And thus Judah was not left without light; and should have joyfully received their promised Messiah, and joined in the songs of the angels who brought the glad tidings to the shepherds of Bethlehem. While those whom you call the Gentile nations were not given that light, and therefore, were not condemned in denying him who turned from the glory of temporal power, to bear his burden of sorrows like unto all men, that he might be rejected of them.

5. But lo, the tribe of Judah, which was of the seed of Abraham, for whom the promises were made, in their zeal for the carnal law, rejected him, and in their hatred slew him. Wherefore the curse was laid upon Judah until this day. and now, behold, the time is at hand when it shall be forever removed; when the hatred of men shall be turned altogether away, and the scales of Judah's blindness shall fall from their eyes, and in Jerusalem they shall see the glory of the Lord, as they desired to see him at the first.

6. Wherefore, I will bring them into their own country, even into the land of Judea; for I will gather a host of them, saith the Lord, to the land of their fathers; and there will I plant them, and make of them a strong nation as in days of old.

7. And now I speak unto all peoples, and say unto every man, that I will send a swift judgment upon that house or that nation which brings distress upon the scattered sheep of Judah; for I have set my hand to deliver them, and to keep the covenants which I made with their fathers. Take counsel therefore, you that have done this thing hitherto.

SECTION V.

1. And lo, the Gentile nations also, or those whom you call Gentiles, have I remembered in mercy, even in this day of visitation and wrath; for behold, I the Lord, likewise remove from them a grievous curse, even the curse of confusion concerning mine Everlasting Gospel; which Gospel is the path of redemption for the posterity of Adam.

2. And this curse was brought upon them, because they shed the blood of mine apostles, and others of my servants from time to time, whom I ordained and sent forth to teach them, and to keep them in the unity of the faith.

3. For they put to death the Twelve, whom I left at Jerusalem, to finish my ministry, and to establish my true Church upon a firm and enduring foundation, even that Church which is the Church of the First Born, the Church of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer and Savior of the world.

4. And thus did I establish my Church upon the shoulders of mine Apostles, whom you slew, you and your fathers; and when you slew them, you took away the foundation of my Church, and the light of my Gospel, and left the world in darkness, which is confusion, for I would not renew the Twelve unto you again.

5. Wherefore also, because of shedding the blood of the innocent ones whom I sent unto your fathers, even as I sent the prophets unto Israel, because of this, you and your fathers received my Gospel only in fragments, and my Scriptures with numerous interpolations and omissions.

6. And you translated them from the original tongue by men inspired only of their own learning, and who were appointed of men; for I would not raise up unto you mine own translators, whom you and your fathers would have slain, as you did mine Apostles.

7. And thus the plainness of my Gospel was taken away. And as the Prophet Isaiah declared would come to pass, your fathers transgressed the law, changed the ordinance and broke the everlasting covenant. Whereupon you were left unto yourselves, that, as the Scriptures declare, you might come to believe in the lies of your fathers and be damned, or, in other words, be condemned. And thus you have inherited the lies of your fathers.

8. And thus have I visited the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, who are like unto their fathers, and who have walked in the sins of their fathers, both of the Jews and of the Gentiles, and also of the whole House of Israel, saith the Lord.

9. Nevertheless, when the plainness of the Scriptures was taken away, with many essential doctrines of my Gospel, through the wickedness of your fathers, the residue did I cause to be left unto you; for I took not from you the knowledge of a Redeemer, whose blood was upon the Jews and not upon the Gentiles.

10. And behold, I say unto you, that they are of great value unto the children of men; for they contain a record of the ancient patriarchs preserved from the beginning of time, and the laws of Moses, and history of Israel, and many of the sayings of the prophets, together with an account of the ministry of the Redeemer, and of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb, and many other things of great worth to those who seek after righteousness; and for this cause have I preserved it.

11. But you cannot now determine from them, of your own selves, the essential principles of salvation; and hence you are divided into many sects and churches, But I will have mercy upon the children of men, and extend unto them the help of the Lord at this time, even unto this generation; for I have sent forth again the Spirit of Truth, and caused some to understand as they did of old. And they greatly rejoice because they have found the pearl of great price, even the kingdom of God.

12. And behold, as the refuge of the lies of your fathers is swept away, these will show it unto you, for in the darkness of the doctrines of men you cannot receive my Gospel.

13. In the beginning also and through all the generations, there have been those who took it upon themselves to add to the words of mine Apostles according to their own will and in the presumption of their self-appointed ministry, and also to take away, even as they would. And multitudes in that day and until now have followed after them; and lo, they are bound into bundles with strong bands, even the firm bands of Satan, to be burned; for they are the tares of the fields of the world, which are now white unto the harvest.

14. Behold, saith the Lord, I will reduce the tares from year to year, that they shall not flourish in my fields as hitherto; for I will pluck up the roots thereof from year to year, and they shall decrease until they are wholly plucked away and destroyed, saith the Lord of Hosts.

SECTION VI.

1. And it was because of these most grievous abominations, that I clothed certain parts of my Scripture in mystery; for my servant John, whom the wicked also sought to destroy but could not, for he was reserved unto my work, him they banished to the Isle of Patmos; and from thence my word went forth concerning the destiny of many peoples and nations, both of the righteous and of the wicked, down unto the time of the end.

2. And in them were the designs and the purposes of God hidden from the world, by the use of metaphors and figures, and by such means as the language afforded, to open a channel to those who should understand, and close it to those who should not.

3. And thus John's words went forth to all men, under the restrictions named therein, that only those who had wisdom should understand; and to whom I will give this wisdom, even the wisdom of the Spirit of Truth; which is given unto those only, who walk in the light of the sure Word of God. Nevertheless, many of my people understand in part.

4. But now, behold the day is at hand when my servant shall speak in great plainness, even with all the plainness of his mother tongue, unto all people. For I, the Lord, descend to the understanding of man, and to the plane of man's thoughts, and to the use of man's language, that he may be without excuse before me.

5. And I employ my servant in his weakness, that my words may go forth to the ends of the earth in great simplicity of speech, and in great plainness of doctrines and explanations; that now, even as I commanded at the beginning, the Gospel of the kingdom may be preached unto every creature; that opportunity may be given to all who dwell upon the earth; that every soul that will may come to understanding; and that the warnings and admonitions of God may reach all men.

6. Now, therefore, I say unto this generation, hear ye the word of the Lord, for it is the hour of his judgments, and the day of his wrath; which time the prophets have testified should come in the latter days.

7. Hear, therefore, this my word unto all the world; that, as I have removed the curse from Judah, and from the Gentiles also, and have begun again to raise up prophets to speak unto the nations, that there may be light again among men, even the light of truth, which is the light of mine Everlasting Gospel; then know ye, that I will hold a sharp controversy with the nations, and also with many classes and orders and sects and churches; for I am angry with the wicked, and have decreed that they shall be punished; yea, until they are banished from off the earth, both root and branch, except they repent, saith the Lord.

SECTION VII.

1. And now concerning the wicked, you know that when I stood by the sea of Galilee, I declared unto my disciples which followed after me, that the meek should inherit the earth, and the pure in heart should see God, and the peacemakers should be called the children of God. And now in your hearts you say, because the time seems long to man, that these promises have failed. How is it that you discredit the Lord? Can His word come to naught, or shall prophecy fall to the ground unfulfilled? Or can He who is the Faithful Witness be a false witness before men?

2. And then, on the other hand, if you suppose the promises have not failed, that from the Lord they could not fail, you will say, surely, in the long ages yet to come, the righteous may inherit the earth.

3. O ye of little faith! Hear ye now again; Shall the Lord forever tarry, while the rebellious scoff at their Redeemer, as they did when they clothed him in purple, and crowned him with thorns, and gave him a reed and bowed before him, hailing him king of the Jews? Shall he tarry forever, and suffer a wicked world, which he has redeemed with his blood, to go on forever in the abominations of the flesh? O, how many are the children of men that are without faith in the earth!

4. Now, behold, all you that are thus unbelieving, hear the Lord again concerning these things, for the time is at hand. Have I not declared, by the mouths of the prophets, the utter destruction of the wicked; those who in all their varied estates have laid hold upon the earth and all the fullness thereof? Verily, I say unto you again, that the meek shall surely inherit the earth, for unto this end was it created. Behold, I have made it the heritage of the righteous, and they shall dwell upon it forever. Yea, they shall overshadow it, and descend upon it, as by the flight of a multitude of birds, saith the Lord of Hosts.

5. And again, I say unto you also, that before this generation shall have passed away, the pure in heart shall see God, according to the promise; yea, they shall see Him dwelling with them in the flesh.

6. And yet again, who are these that stand to make themselves the peacemakers of God? Shall my people shirk the just responsibilities of nations in order to maintain peace? Shall they evade those conflicts over the right, which the valiant have fought from the beginning, upon which the heavens rest, and the powers that uphold the thrones of eternity are founded? Shall security be exalted above justice and safety be honored before principle? And is this the peace of God?

7. Verily, verily, I say unto you, that among the inhabitants of the earth which shall remain to possess the land, there shall arise statesmen indeed, who will guide them to a wise fraternity between nations, and point out to them those principles and policies of intercourse which will destroy the motive of war. And these people who thus lay the axe at the root, which is the greed of nations, are the peacemakers which shall be called the children of God; for they shall be my people, and I will be their God, and there shall be no more war. And when I shall consume the wicked as stubble, and leave them neither root nor branch in the earth, as saith the prophet Malachi, then shall these things be.

8. Wherefore, O ye wicked, yet a little while and a certain awful fear of the wrath of God shall take hold of your bones, and they will quake as the aspen leaf, and your hearts will fail for the dread of the things which are yet to come. For the hour is fast approaching when men will no longer deny that the calamities of nature which are falling upon all the races of men, the floods of water, the quaking of the earth, the destructive cyclones and the consuming fires, are from the hand of Him who made and governs them all; and they shall know that the pestilence and the famine and the wars of men, are not the cruelties of an immutable fate, but the rod of the justice of God.

9. For man have I created that he might have joy hereafter, even to partake of the joys of eternity, which exceed all imagination of the heart and all calculation of the mind. And I would that he might inherit the powers of endless dominion, and not that he might have misery. And for this cause do I call men to repentance.

10. Remember, O remember, that the punishments which are brought upon the children of men are administered for their everlasting good, according to that wisdom which is in God; and are designed to advance them in the kingdom whither they go; for it is written that in my Father's house there are many mansions; and this meaneth that there are many kingdoms and degrees of glory; and also there are kingdoms which are without honor unto them that dwell therein; for their reward is dishonor, and they are forever banished from the presence of God.

11. Wherefore, because the wicked who will not repent, must reap the reward of everlasting shame and misery, I have decreed that they shall be made to know and understand, that the judgments which have been, are but the commencement of the desolations which are to come, that fearing the wrath of God they may be constrained to turn unto Him.

SECTION VIII.

1. And behold, the hour is near also, when all men shall know that these words are true, and the words of all the prophets that have spoken since the beginning of time, are true; and that Jesus Christ is the True and Faithful Witness, whether He speaks Himself, as when He stood among men, or speaks through His servant John, who prophesied of the judgments upon this generation, or through him whom he has now caused to speak in great plainness to all the ends of the earth.

2. Wherefore, O ye my people, listen to the words of your Redeemer, and be not stiff-necked and rebellious, neither in bondage to your sins and carnal pleasures; for the final end thereof is misery unto the wretched soul forever. For the wicked who rebel against me, and who will not repent, must surely drink of the bitterness of hell.

3. And now, in this, the day of your heavy burdens and increasing trials, which are yet to follow, I would comfort my people concerning their innocent ones, yea, and all their little ones, whom often times I take unto myself out of the midst of your afflictions, even in the violence of my judgments; yet think not that I have forsaken them; neither, when I call the righteous in mine anger that I have abandoned them. Nor have I forsaken the generations of your fathers; for I am the Redeemer of all men who are willing to be redeemed, and my bowels are filled with compassion for them all. Wherefore, I give unto them space in which to repent.

4. But the wicked, who remain wicked until their hour cometh, woe unto them. They are those who will call upon the rocks to hide them from the face of their Lord whom they have crucified; for they crucify me who rebel against me, saith the Lord.

SECTION IX

1. Great, indeed, is the controversy which the Lord will hold with the nations; yea, a fierce shock of battle against the wicked; and a great battle of the Almighty against the false tenets and traditions of men; against the delusions of a long age of spiritual darkness; and against the false prophets who have led my people away from their Shepherd and their fold, saith the Lord.

2. Lo, I bring a crisis upon the world; for the unbeliever will I cut off from the land of the living; and they are many. It is a day of skepticism and blindness of heart; for men will to resist and to deny their Creator, and to seek the counsel of darkness, even that of the multiplied books of vain philosophies and deadly spiritual doctrines.

3. Behold, I say unto you, that of necessity you must believe on the Son whom the Father hath sent into the world; for if you believe not him you cannot be redeemed.

4. This is a hard saying, and many there are who will reject it, and who will contend in their hearts after this manner: How is it I must believe that which I cannot believe? And is God just, if there is a God, to enforce upon the minds of the free-agents whom he has created, that which is impossible?

5. Verily, I who am your Creator, say unto you whom my hands have made, that it is possible for all men to believe. If you will be obedient unto your Creator, then can you believe; for you will then desire to know, and you will be without prejudice, and then will the Spirit of Truth bring your mind into a state of belief.

6. But if you will to be disobedient unto Him who made you, and will to be a law unto yourself, then will you remain in that darkness which you have chosen; and this is the free-agency which you have received from the Father; and it leadeth unto life eternal, on the one hand, or to the second death, which is eternal damnation, on the other. Wherefore, you are left to choose, and the responsibility is with every man.

7. For you must know that man could not have been created in the likeness of God, and not possess the initiative principle of a free-agent; which supreme attribute abideth in the bosom of the Father and the Son forever.

8. Neither could he ascend to that company of angels who become joint-heirs with Jesus Christ of all things, together with all powers and dominions and glories according to the promise, except he be first tried in his choice of good and evil, as they have been.

9. And how could one who thus possesses a will, which is forever independent of his Creator, be measured for the vast responsibilities of an endless future, except by his record? For how could the government of the heavens be upheld in everlasting security, except the powers thereof be conferred upon those who have demonstrated that the will of the Father is superior to death or to the multiplied sacrifices of life? And how could the hosts of the righteous, who people the celestial worlds, abide forever in His presence if they could not live obedient unto celestial law?

10. Wherefore, according to the record, which record is kept in heaven, and it is a record of the deeds done in the body, and this includeth the works of repentance, even according to the record, shall it be with every man to receive much or little.

11. And thus man shapeth his own destiny, even as God, in whose likeness he is made, even in the likeness of his spirit and in the image of his body.

12. And behold, the Redeemer is the Son of God, even His express image; and the heir of all things which the Father hath created and made.

13. And behold, if you will turn your face unto the heavens, and look into the bosom of the immeasurable expanse, where countless worlds like unto this move in trains of never ending glory before the vision of the eye, you will behold the heritage of the Son.

14. And unto his redeemed he will deliver the title deeds of their eternal estates; for all the fulness of the Father's kingdoms are the heritage of the righteous; and their birth-right of free-agency abideth in them forever, as in the Son.

15. And to this end, even that man might inherit all things, Jesus Christ came into the world to suffer for them, and be lifted up before them, that they might see him suffer, and thus seeing him suffer, might know of the fullness of the measure of his love for them, yea, that they might marvel and be astonished.

16. For He unto whom was given the cup of gall in His cry of thirst, suffered greater extremes than any man, and drank deeper of the cup of bitterness which the Father had prepared for Him; that his Son might show forth the depths of their infinite love and be exalted to sit at the right hand of Eternal Power.

17. And if the sacrifices and the pains which he suffered, both of body and of mind, like unto which no man could suffer; behold, I say unto you, that if so great a love for men, cannot prevail upon them to acknowledge their Creator, and walk in obedience to his wishes, there is no power in the heavens or upon the earth that can save them that are thus created in the likeness of God.

18. For Omnipotence did truly exhaust the possibilities of the natural world, that the children of men might be persuaded to love Jesus Christ, and believe him to be the Only Begotten of the Father, sent into the world for their redemption and exaltation.

19. Verily, verily, now I say unto you again, that it is impossible for infinite mind, to associate together the deeds of men and of angels and of good and evil spirits, into any natural sequence of living events upon the earth, subjecting a creature to the test of greater extremes than those which the Son of God endured for man's sake. Wherefore, he went below all things, and endured all things, even all things which are, or ever can be. Wherefore, ye know that he is God.

20. And thus do the works of the Son justify the blessings of the Father on the one hand, and the wrath of God on the other; and declare the glory and the power and the dominion of the Father and the Son forever more.

21. And for as much as the free-agency of man is an eternal birth-right and heritage from the Creator of all men, like unto his own, and from which he cannot recede, if he would uphold the eternal principles of man's being, woe shall be unto him that, in the presumption of his foolish soul, condemneth God.

22. Your fathers both heard and saw how great was the love of God; who so loved the world that he gave his Only Begotten Son, that whosoever would believe in him might not perish, but have everlasting life; the knowledge of which have I brought down unto you of this generation, by the words of mine Apostles and others of my faithful servants, and by the voice of angels, yea, and the voice of the Father out of the heavens, together with a record of the ministry of the Son. All these bear witness at this day of the love of God; and by them shall this generation be judged; for so great a number of witnesses shall make an end of controversy. And if now you condemn God, you will be condemned of God, who has given you abundantly of the light of truth concerning these things.

23. And now I say unto you, that if you will not come unto this knowledge and unto this wisdom, it is because of the evil pleasures of the world which you are not willing to forego, and of your own sins, which you repent not of because you love them; and it must needs be that you be removed from the earth, and be cut off in your posterity, that I may do unto you that which is wisdom in me.

24. Wherefore, after I have given space in which to repent, then shall the unbeliever who still remains in a state of rebellion against me, and against my Word, and against mine Everlasting Gospel, be cut off from before my face.

25. For it must needs be fulfilled as it has been written, yea, and decreed of my Father from before the foundation of the world, that all they who dwell upon the earth in the day when I shall reign over my people, shall know me, the Lord their God, even from the least unto the greatest. How then can the unbeliever stand?

26. Wherefore, the unbeliever may not say in his heart; I do no wrong, and therefore God, if there is a God, will be just to me, and if he is just it is all I ask; for, verily, I say unto him, that, for as much as the Messenger of the Covenant of Salvation was lifted up on high and put to death before all men, the unbeliever will I not excuse before my Father which is in heaven, and he must drink the bitter cup of the wrath of his Creator.

27. But I show forth the tender mercy of the Father towards the residue of my people, saith the Lord; for many multitudes of them have been turned away from me, in all the generations since I came into the world; yea, because of the many false teachers and their pernicious doctrines concerning me, and concerning my Father who reigneth in the heavens; and because of the many vain and foolish theories as to the nature and being of man and of God and of that which is beyond the grave; because of these things, many of the wise and of the honest of heart have been turned utterly away from my rock and my salvation.

28. Wherefore, because of the mercy of the Father, these are given time in which to repent and turn unto their Redeemer, that they may walk in obedience to his words, and in the end, be gathered unto him with an everlasting salvation.

SECTION X.

1. And now, if you have searched my Scriptures, you know that I come a second time upon the earth; and you know also from the prophets that the time is near at hand; and I say unto you now again, in great plainness, that the day of my visitation, yea, of my personal appearance, is indeed, at the door; and you must needs be prepared, lest you perish.

2. For this cause, have I broken the silence of many generations; which silence, was because of your wickedness and the wickedness of your fathers; and the heavens, which have been sealed as brass over your heads, have I opened again; that my word might be sent forth unto you, O, inhabitants of the earth! And if you reject it at this time, and give no heed to the warnings which are sent forth unto you, then will you perish.

3. And except you seek me, to know the truth of these things, if you are in doubt, you will not be able to stand. But if you seek me, and do it with an honest desire to know the truth, and with an earnestness of reliance upon me, that I might show you, behold, I will show you. Mine ear is not heavy that I cannot hear the voice of faith that comes from the integrity of the heart.

4. But the light-minded, and the hypocrite, and the unrepentant, and the disobedient, and the unbeliever, and the false prophet, and the ministry of Satan, will I not answer, saith the Lord.

5. For they are of the wicked, though they know it not, and their answer is from him whom they will to obey. Let them beware in whom they trust. Yea, let them first repent of the evils of their hearts.

6. But, verily, I say unto you, those are blessed indeed, who will seek, in faith, to know  the truth of my doctrines; and blessed are they who will deny the traditions of their fathers; and blessed they who are strong to reject the counsel of an erring ministry; and blessed those who will turn from the conflicting and confusing creeds of men; and blessed those who will set at naught their own cherished opinions; and doubly blessed shall be those who reject the forms and ceremonies, the robes and vain show of priestly pride; for all these conditions are essential to the salvation of mine Israel of this generation.

7. And hear ye the Lord in this; it is not sufficient that you possess a spirit of inward peace and joy, as from your Lord; for they that repent and turn from the commission of sin, have much cause to rejoice, and I the Lord, give them joy; for the awakening of conscience, and obedience thereto, is obedience unto God, even to the spirit of redemption.

8. But of necessity, you must seek to know the law, that your doctrines may be sound, in order that you may walk in obedience to the commandments of God, even to observe the ordinances of mine Everlasting Gospel. And I say unto you, that if you do not this, then are you damned, or in other words, then are you condemned, and cast aside; for no one can reject my Gospel and be permitted to enter into my courts.

9. For you must surely know that the Lord cannot be a respecter of persons, and mine ordinances were not given to men to be trampled under foot; neither to be changed by the will of man. The wisdom of them remaineth in me, and it is for all men to walk in obedience thereto.

10. Wherefore, O ye children of men, turn ye from all your vain delusions, and I the Lord your God, even your Savior, will show you the way; and again, as in days of old, make plain to you the path which leadeth unto life eternal.

11. And now behold, there are many ten-thousand who will do this; and they are unto me as mine Israel in the day when the Prophet Elijah sorrowed because he alone was left of all those who worshipped the true and living God, and I showed unto him that seven thousand of the children of Israel had not bent the knee unto Baal,

12. Of such is the Kingdom of heaven, They are they which have believing hearts, and are lowly of spirit; and they will hear the voice of the Good Shepherd. They are mine, saith the Lord, and I will preserve them and keep them in the hollow of my hand.

13. And after they have been tried in the furnace of affliction and the scourges are past, then will I gather them upon all the lands of their fathers; tribe for tribe, and race for race, will I place them, every tongue and every people in their own lands. And they will know me, their Lord, and walk in my statutes; and I will be in their midst, and rule over them for a thousand years to come.

SECTION XI.

1. My spirit have I withdrawn from the world, and peace have I taken from the earth; that the wicked may rage and fill up the measure of their iniquity; that those who will may murder and commit all manner of abominations, according to that free-agency which the Father gave unto them. And this I do that I may destroy them.

2. Therefore, conflicts prevail everywhere, and all things are at variance. Confusion reigns even in the counsels of the wise, and statesmen know not the way of safety.

3. The elements also are at war. You read how the winds in their fury, sweep away the habitations of man, and the seas in their anger, heave beyond their bounds. The earth itself trembles and quakes, as if it would rend asunder. Raging fires devour the forests, and consume the great cities. Floods of water engulf the fertile valleys, and the mountains send forth their fiery indignation.

4. And yet with all this, you take no thought. How is it you will not consider? The voice of God in the deep thunder you do not hear. To his fiery spirit out of the sharp crackle of the vivid lightning, you give no heed. You will not be rebuked, though decimating disease, and sore famine, pass over a land to blight and to devour it.

5. How long, O ye, my people, will you suffer these things, and not come to understanding? How long will you refuse to know that it is because of wickedness, that the Father visits these judgments upon you? For He who notes the fall of every sparrow, and numbers the hairs of the head, ruleth in the elements, and subjecteth the storm to His sovereign will, and holdeth the earth in the palm of His hand, that the breath of a little vapor may not harm it.

6. Would the Lord hurt a righteous people? Would the Father who loves you, have no compassion, and the Creator who made you, destroy the workmanship of His hands? Cannot He who set His foot upon the angry waves of Galilee, bind down the floods that sweep the valleys, if He will? Cannot He who rebuked the wind and saved the fisherman's boat, bring a quiet upon the mighty seas, and a rest to the troubled lands, if He will? O ye, of little faith!

7. Behold you are cut off from the day. Your light has diminished over the nations. The very darkness of Egypt is settled upon you. For years now, have I brought upon you, in an ever increasing number of the dead, the terrors of my judgments, and the fear of God ariseth not in your hearts; but you say, it is only nature disturbed in obedience to the course of unalterable law; and there is no God who interferes with the fixed order of things. And you say also that these things have always been.

8. Must the truth of Scripture, O man! be made a field of debate, and the revelations of the Infinite be upheld with argument, that peradventure the voice of reason may kindle the light of a little faith? Hear now, and I will reason with you as a man. Your wise men read out of the book of nature the laws of cause and effect, and in confidence of their wisdom you trust their philosophy; but it is truly written that the wisdom of the wise shall perish. His knowledge of the invisible world is like unto him who knows not his right hand from his left. Even those invisible currents of power which he of late uses the most, he knows the least of.

9. He sends them away to great distances, and now even out into the open expanse of heaven as well, and notwithstanding he knows nothing concerning the substance or the source thereof, yet, in view of his many achievements, you consider it presumptuous to regard anything as impossible to him, and you blindly accept many theories and many philosophies at his hand.

10. Should you rely less upon the intelligence and power of Him who has prepared all philosophies and all knowledge that man might search? Verily, I say unto you, you know not the depth of these things, but only the shadows that play on the surface of the ground. You know not the invisible cause that is in the hand of the invisible God. Wherefore, until you know this, how can you know the source and control of the forces of nature?

11. But the Scriptures fully manifest that the God of heaven, who made all things, doeth whatsoever he will, and holdeth the invisible reigns of all causation in the hand of his infinite power.

12. Albeit, you are not willing to believe the Word of God; but desire to believe that He has placed the mechanism of His universe beyond His control. And yet you well know that if one of you construct a machine of any kind, without retaining the government thereof, it is worthless. Why will you persist to think so blindly and so unwisely, of the Master Machinist of all things?

13. Behold, I say unto you, that your reasoning is not sincere, for the thing you desire, determines the philosophy you embrace. And if you will search the depths of your heart, your self-deception will become manifest.

14. Multitudes there are who will to be deceived, that they may resist the Word of God, and yet avoid self-condemnation; and also that they may not see in the judgments of nature, the condemnation of a wicked people; as it was with my people of old, who slew the prophets that prophesied evil upon the House of Israel.

15. Wherefore, for this cause, it must needs be that I greatly intensify my judgments upon your heads, O inhabitants of the earth, and this is my warning unto you, yea, my final warning unto the House of Israel, and to all the nations of the Gentiles. Be admonished, therefore, you that are wise, and remember the perils by land and by sea, which are decreed upon all the world.

SECTION XII.

1. And now give ear unto the Lord, O ye nations which trouble the world with wars, and understand, that it is for this cause also, that I have suffered you to involve yourselves in a far spread conflict of blood; and also that the words of the prophets might be fulfilled; and have not restrained your greed and vain glory, as I have been wont to do, for the sake of the innocent among you.

2. Wherefore, you sounded the trump of war, and it summoned the vultures to feed on the flesh of your sons. And now they circle the heavens over the heaps of your dead, that they may glut themselves on the carcasses of the slain. And the rivers of the valleys you have turned into blood.

3. You have devised the murder of innocence under the sea, that sharks may devour the tender child, and the great deep swallow up a host. Your inventors have perverted the gift of God, to build your crafts of war, even for the very clouds of heaven; that you might rain your thunder-bolts of death upon the heads of the innocent, to take away the life which has given no offense; that you might horrify the world with cruelty, and thus constrain the nations to give you victory.

4. Woe unto him that pursueth victory at any price; and also unto him that pursueth peace at any price. And let this be your Lord's answer concerning your disputations; that you pursue justice at any price, when it is yours to do; and if wisdom should justify, that you temper it with mercy. For I will uphold the just man and the just nation, saith the Lord; and together, the cruel hearted and the faint-hearted, will I condemn.

5. And as for the nation that slays the innocent out of the heavens, and defiles the great waters with the blood of murder, I will remember them, saith the Lord, for I will shut up the heavens against them from above, and open the gates of hell upon them from beneath. I will cut off the blessings of heaven from them, and the sea shall be the sepulcher of their strength; their pride and their glory shall go down together into the deep, and it shall be their everlasting tomb.

6. Wilt thou altogether usurp God's place, that thou mayest govern the earth and sea and also the heavens unto the shedding of blood? Shall the Lord not avenge murder? Who art thou, O man, that sittest to judge life and death? Shall the creator who gave life, and who only hath wisdom and knowledge to take it, leave it unto babes?

7. Or wilt thou unto whom hast been given a seat of authority among men, intrude within the very courts of heaven also, where God reigneth?

8. Hear now the Word of the Lord; He that decreeth the death of innocence, shall perish from off his throne, and from the earth also shall he be banished away. Shall a man, who is himself but flesh and blood, make his throne a pool of blood and give no answer; when the justice of God must answer to the slain, whose blood crieth from the ground?

9. From the beginning thou hast known that man was created in the image of God. Thou hast known also that His law went forth from Sinai, by the hand of Moses, that thou shouldest not kill. And unto this end also there went forth a decree from the days of Noah, that who so sheddeth the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed. And under this law cometh self-defense, both for nations and for individuals, to preserve the rights of man and the life of nations.

10. Wherefore, in self-defense, will I justify the shedding of blood. More than this thou hast no law, and thou committest murder; and a murderer shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.

11. Hear, therefore, all ye oppressive rulers and all ye unjust sovereigns who have done these things, hear the voice of the Almighty One whose throne is above the heavens, and who maketh the earth his footstool; ye are as the chaff from the summer's threshing, and with a faint breeze will I blow you away, till you and your thrones and they that uphold you, shall be found no more at all; while in the hurricane of mine anger some shall forever disappear from before the face of the righteous over whom they have ruled.

12, Ye call upon God; and with a noise you herald that God is with you. Behold, I will break in pieces the scepter, and silence the tongue of him who would tempt the Lord that he might gain the vassalage of men for the glory of empire.

13. He that buildeth for war, seeketh war, and sueth for the spirit of war, shall he not have war? And he that would kill with the sword, shall he not perish by the sword also?

14. O thou boasting nation! I am against you. When you sue for peace, I will not hear; and when you groan with the distress of battle, I will be far away. Should not the despoiler be despoiled? Answer thou me. And are the spoils of conquest good, that they should be blessed of Him upon whose name you call? Shall a king also despise covenants, and a whole people become treacherous?

15. Who is able to evade responsibility with God by fained words? Is the Lord dull of understanding; and will you call upon him to confirm the wrong; that through his name you may gain advantage in your works of darkness?

16. Ye are hypocrites. Ye speak boastfully and deceitfully, saying, Look at the progress of our arms, and our mighty strength in battle; can you not see that God is with us? Yet you know that it is not might that makes right.

17. I am against you; O thou boasting nation! I am against the proud and the deceitful, and against the murderer that goeth into battle, and against the despoiler, and against the covetous; who seek that which is not their own; who first make war, and then would tax the burdens thereof upon their adversary, in order to reap the spoils of war. And thus they justify the robbery of nations which are weaker than themselves, and are restrained only by the censure of the world.

18. Yet, a little while, and thou shalt know that I am against thee; for those whom thou spoilest, shall return and spoil thee; and in thine own land, shall desolations come. Thou shalt sue for peace, but thine adversaries will not consider, even as thou hast not considered.

19. Behold, thou shalt return to the controversy which lieth in the sword. Will ye be hot when ye will, and cold when ye will; and is all option centered in thee; and hath thine adversary naught to say or to judge? Canst thou make war, and make peace, at thine own will? Thou thyself hast chosen the adjudication of blood; wherefore, now behold, they also have chosen blood, that thou mayest learn wisdom.

20. Yet, have I made thee a military scourge unto the transgressing nations; and have turned the strength and the vanity of thy sword against them; and thou shalt overrun other lands and other countries. But after thine adversaries have humbled themselves; and repented them of their failings in the conduct of government; and of their unjust advantage in the commerce of the world, expanding by forcible means or overbearing methods; and of class distinctions, with all its vanities of title, and its inequalities of birth, then will I hedge thee in, saith the Lord, and thou, and those that are with thee, shall be brought down.

21. But if the transgressing nations will not repent, and put away these evil things, saith the Lord of Hosts, I will raise up my forces in the midst of them and overthrow them.

22. I created the great fish to live in the depths of the sea; and I provided also, that they should feed and nourish upon the lesser. Shall this law which is for the dumb creatures of the deep, be a law unto man also; him whom I have made in the image of God, both in the similitude of the body, and in the attributes of the soul? Behold, I say unto you, that the greed of nations, that which is beyond justice and fairness, as of individuals, I the Lord detest.

23. Wherefore, it shall come to pass, that those which remain upon the earth, to occupy it and to dwell upon it, shall live as becometh the children of God. In my hand, from henceforth, will I hang the plummet, and the wall shall be to the line. No longer shall the wicked prosper. His wall, which he buildeth, shall be to the line.

24. Now, O ye wicked, hear ye the word of the Lord; no longer shall the wicked prosper. It is the set time. Whether of nations, or of individuals, it is the same.

25. My retributions shall overtake the man of secret intrigues, and the nation of disturbing policies, saith the Lord, who infringe this, my law of justice unto all men; and every creature, and every nation, must meet again the folly of their ways. And this law is in force upon all nations and peoples; and from henceforth my judgments shall be swift upon them, saith the Lord of Hosts; they shall not linger as hitherto.

26. The unjust prince will I bring down, and the wicked ruler will I punish; meddlesome nations will I destroy, and class governments will I overturn, saith the Lord, except they repent.

27. For I would that you should know the will of the Father, that in each nation there shall be established an equality of rights and privileges. And all those who oppose this divine principle are against me, saith the Lord, and from henceforth I am against them.

SECTION XIII.

1. A country that is select and beautiful, a land that I have set my seal upon, will I also rend, saith the Lord, and a little one shall set it upon edge, endwise. Call now your watchman to the tower, and keep a vigil upon the Lord, that you may know that I will do it.

2. And the city in the border, which is the center thereof, will I pluck up, saith the Lord; and I will scatter the workmen of that city, and the banner thereof will I tear in pieces.

3. And out of the sea the monsters of the deep shall rise up; and they shall send forth desolations as a flood upon that land. And I will bring clouds of dense darkness, and overcast them with the red glare of war. And they shall hang over that land, and the fear of the Lord shall seize the hearts of that people. For, lo, the red and the black shall be against her; and their gathering hosts will crowd upon the plain; and blood shall wash away the filth and the wickedness of that land.

4. For I will shake her center, saith the Lord; and her poles of liberty shall be riven as with the lightning; for her ways are corrupted before me.

5. The path of peace is no longer found in her borders and her statue of justice is broken down. Her honorable men have done it.

6. Her judges connive with men of shrewd devices and are full of pandering. Her halls of legislation are corrupted with bribery and the people of that land seek to conceal away the lawless. Everywhere is heard the voice of them that cried, release unto us Barabbas. The statutes of the law, they will not suffer to be enforced; but esteem it worthy to shield the guilty. And the crafty defense of the murderer is rewarded with honor; for the evil technicalities of the law, are turned to the profit and the glory of professional men; while they who shed the blood of innocence go free. Her forces of law and order are become conspirators in crime; and her criminals are fast multiplying in the highways of her notable cities. Thus, the land is filled with violence, and there is no safety.

7. Shall such a people govern? Where is the peaceful dwelling place of your fathers? The place of safety, for my little ones, that they may not grow up corrupted? Answer thou me, shall such a people govern? And shall these things continue, till there are none righteous among them that are left to dwell upon the earth, even as it was in the days of Noah? Is it not well that I have numbered your days, to make an end of them? Answer me in this also, saith the Lord.

8. And ye boast of liberty. Has not that liberty which your fathers obtained in blood, become a delusion and a sham? Hear now the Lord. You grind the face of the poor; and for the toiler, the producer of all your material wealth, you have no mercy; you would yoke him as a beast of burden. The widow and the orphan, where is your provision for them? Your shrewd men rob them, and you leave them alone to perish. Also the feeble and the aged - show me the providing statute. Only the criminal do you house and feed, and all my little ones must suffer. The strong ones who make the law make it unto themselves, while the helpless perish under their care.

9. And will you call this liberty? Aye, and will you celebrate it, forgetful of your oppressions? Behold, is not bondage the name thereof ? Do they enjoy liberty whom you grind down, and in your greed, ride upon their necks? Is there any liberty at all when there is not liberty for all? Or, is it liberty, that you possess a franchise of sovereign power to return corrupt men to office, who rule in unrighteousness, and continually crush the weak under foot?

10. Hear now the Lord speak. I will drive you from the seat of authority. There shall not a corrupt man be left to rob and to plunder my people, saith the Lord. Yea, and I will break down the strong pillars of your constitution, except you remember the helpless, to set my people free. For the Lord will make bare his strong right arm, and he himself will be their emancipator.

11. My statutes, which are the laws of the land when they are righteous, shall be made strong for the right, and for discipline also, saith the Lord. And the pernicious law shall be erased from the statute book; and I will double all your penalties for crime; and the murderer shall answer with his blood; and no man shall escape, saith the Lord.

12. Ye know that it is written, that the Lord cannot endure the least degree of iniquity; why then will you nurse it, and mother the lawless as a suckling child, as if you did the world a service? Will you comfort and protect the criminal, that they may leaven my people with the spirit of crime? And will you call it charity and an acceptable service to God?

13. Behold, in mine indignation, I will require an eye for an eye; yea, presently will I require both eyes of the wicked of this generation, for it is the hour of my coming, and ye are not able to abide the law of Christ, but rather the law of Moses. And this will I do that darkness may settle down upon the souls of them that violate the innocent, and defy the law of God, and the law of man, until I have stamped them out as fire from beneath thy feet.

14. And I will bring strong men and plant them in all the high places of that land, yea, men wondered at, saith the Lord; and they shall not fear. And my statutes and my judgments will they perform; and the land shall be cleansed. Stand by now, ye fair nation, and ye corrupt generation, stand by, and see that I will do it, saith the Lord of Hosts.

15. The drone that is ladened with riches, will I cut off. He shall not be left to cumber the earth. For the land shall be a hive, and my people shall swarm as the bees. And I will plant the honeysuckle, and the flowery field, and the land shall increase its yield fourfold, saith the Lord, and it shall flow with milk and with honey, and with a fine vintage; and there shall be enough for all. And I will make labor a pleasure and a joy; and peace shall be established in all the borders of that land.

SECTION XIV.

1. And there will I build my tabernacle, saith the Lord of Hosts; and with the multitude of her towers will I light the firmament of heaven; and in splendor will I exalt her domes, to meet the radiant morning of the millennial day. And then will appear the golden age, of which the prophets sang, and which their eyes have longed to see. And the songs of my redeemed will mingle with the prophet's voice; and together will they sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. And then will the Zion of my bosom return, to fill the vacant place; and the New Jerusalem arise, and shake herself from the dust of the earth; and together will they sing the praises of their redeeming Lord, and hosannas to their triumphant King. And the shouts of their joyful hallelujahs will rend the skies, and resound upon the earth, again and yet again; for then will be brought to pass the covenant of the Father, which he made with Enoch, that the earth should rest for a thousand years.

SECTION XV.

1. And unto thee, thou greatly favored, unto thee, I the Lord, at this time, have a word of warning and a word of sharp rebuke. The ear of the Almighty hath heard your slandering, and your back-biting, and your lying; and they are of that blackness which cometh from the depths of hell; yea, they are of the spirit of that Wicked One, who maketh war upon me; and who hath gendered strife, and bitterness, and hatred, in the hearts of my people from the first; for which cause, Zion was lost unto them. Take heed, therefore, for I will rebuke my people suddenly with the shaft of death. I will make bare mine arm in the midst of them, and they shall know that I am God.

2. And now, even now, will I make them to understand, that of old it was truly said, a prophet is not without honor save in his own country, and in his own city, and with his own people.

3. From whence came the stones that killed the prophets? Were they from the highways of the Gentiles, or yet from the gates of Jerusalem? Were they not the gall stones of the bitterness of Israel? And Israel's stony heart, which their sins had petrified; and were they not gathered out from the Dead Sea of a spiritual kingdom? Behold, now, from the putrid waters I still smell a detestable odor; and who that hath scented the shores of the two seas, can distinguish?

4. Will you cast me out, saith the Lord; and will you abandon me as a thing to be hated? Hear now the Lord speak: With a man will I rebuke a great nation, and with my rod will I punish a holy people.

5. For a rod, indeed, have I brought forth out of the stem of Jesse. Yea, like unto a sword with two sharp edges have I brought it forth, saith the lord. Can you remember when I would not punish Israel? I will search out the back-biter, and the slanderer will I hunt down in the midst of you, and I will hate you who have hated me, and cast you out who have cast me out, except you repent, saith the Lord.

6. Behold, ye know that my coming is at the door and ye look for a prophet. Verily, I say unto you, at the door of the tabernacle of Zion have I laid a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. Will you bring into her gates the blindness that fell upon Judah? You have brought an evil report. One has lied against me, and a whole company have believed the lie. You have been tale-bearers against me. Yea, from a distance, and from afar off, you have borne a false witness against me.

7. From the north you have lied, and out of the earth you have lied; even out of the very ground, you have lied against me, saith the Lord. Lo, these many years you have lied.

8. Yet, I would not speak. I did not answer. I would not suffer my silence to be broken; that my people might fill up their cup to the full; that I might deal with them, saith the Lord; and that after that, I might once again renew unto them the word of the Lord, and bless them, saith the Lord of Hosts.

SECTION XVI

1. And hearken now unto me; O ye, my scattered Israel! O ye, my Church in the wilderness! Hearken and break off, and remember the prophets no more, neither the Apostles of the Lamb; for they which garnished the sepulchers of the dead, were they which slew them.

2. Turn ye from the tombs of the seers, to the living seers. Ye are fast bound in the stocks of ancient Israel. Break away, O ye, my people! Arise; shake off the faith that is dead. Is not a faith dead that looketh only to the dead prophets? Know ye not that naught but a living faith can see the living?

3. Arise, therefore, and shake off the withered leaves that linger on the ancient tree of Israel. Let me hurl them, saith the Lord, with a mighty wind, till all the branches of Jacob are clean bare, and then will the buds of a living spring burst forth into everlasting summer.

SECTION XVII.

1. And thou, O Zion, knowest thou who hath tempted thee to set thee against me, that my work should falter, and that my word should be cut off?

2. Call now a solemn assembly, ye that know the Lord. Appoint a day of fasting and a day of prayer. Bow down, O Zion, and make thee a covering of sackcloth, that mine eye may be turned from thy nakedness; that thou mayest quiet the indignation.

3. It shall be unto thee a day of choosing and not a day of counsel, saith the Lord. Wherefore, it is needful that ye seek unto me, that it may become a day of prayer.

Amen.