The Ancient Voices on Antichrist

Let no man seduce you by any means, for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, which is an adversary & is extolled above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself as though he were God. Remember you not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now what letteth, you know: that he may be revealed in his time.

(For now the mystery of iniquity worketh: only that he which now holdeth, do hold, until he be taken out of the way.) And then that wicked one shall be revealed whom our Lord Jesus shall kill with the spirit of his mouth; and shall destroy with the manifestation of his advent, him, whose coming is according to the operation of Satan, in all power, and lying signs and wonders; and in all seducing of iniquity to them that perish; for that they have not received the charity of the truth that they might be saved.

Therefore God will send them the operation of error, to believe lying: that all may be judged which have not believed the truth, but have consented to iniquity.

And the Spirit manifestly saith that in the last times certain shall depart from the faith attending to spirits of error, and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy, and having their conscience seared, forbidding to marry, to abstain from meats which God created to receive with thanks-giving for the faithful, and them that have known the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be rejected that is received with thanks-giving.

For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

And this know thou, that in the last days shall approach perilous times. And men shall be lovers of themselves, covetous, haughty, proud, blasphemous, not obedient to their parents, unkind, wicked, without affection, without peace, accusers, incontinent, unmerciful, without benignity, traitors, stubborn, puffed up, and lovers of voluptuousness more than of God:

having an appearance indeed of piety, but denying the virtue thereof. And these avoid. For of these be they that craftily enter into houses; & lead captive seely women laden with sins, which are led with diverse desires: always learning, and never attaining to the knowledge of the truth. But as Iannes and Mambres resisted Moyses, so these also resist the truth, men corrupted in mind, reprobate concerning the faith.

But they shall prosper no further: for their folly shall be manifest to all, as theirs also was. But thou hast attained to my doctrine, institution, purpose, faith, longanimity, love, patience, persecutions, passions: what manner of things were done to me at Antioch, at I conium, at Lystra: what manner of persecutions I sustained. And out of all our Lord delivered me. And all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution.

But evil men & seducers shall prosper to the worse: erring, and driving into error. But thou, continue in those things which thou hast learned, & are committed to thee: knowing of whom thou hast learned; & because from thine infancy thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which can instruct thee to salvation, by the faith that is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to argue, to correct, to instruct in justice:

that the man of God may be perfect, instructed to every good work.

I Testify before God and Jesus Christ who shall judge the living and the dead, and by his advent, and his Kingdom: Preach the word. Urge in season, out of season, reprove, beseech, rebuke, in all patience and doctrine. For there shall be a time when they will not bear sound doctrine: but according to their own desires they will heap to themselves masters, having itching ears, and from the truth certes they will avert their hearing, and to fables they will be converted.

But be thou vigilant, labour in all things, do the work of an Evangelist, fulfill thy ministry. Be sober. For I am even now to be sacrificed: and the time of my resolution is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have consummate my course, I have kept the faith. Concerning the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which our Lord will render to me in that day, a just judge: and not only to me, but to them also that love his coming.

Little children, it is the last hour, & as you have heard, that Antichrist cometh: now there are become many Antichrists, whereby we know, that it is the last hour. They went out from us; but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would surely have remained with us: but that they may be manifest that they are not all of us. But you have the unction from the Holy one, and know all things. I have not written to you as to them that know not the truth, but as to them that know it: and that no lie is of the truth.

Who is a liar, but he which denieth that Jesus is Christ? This is Antichrist which denieth the Father and the Son. Every one that denieth the Son, neither hath he the Father. He that confesseth the Son, hath the Father also. You, that which you have heard from the beginning, let it abide in you. If that abide in you which you have heard from the beginning, you also shall abide in the Son & the Father. And this is the promise which he promised us, life everlasting.

These things have I written to you concerning them that seduce you. And you, the unction which you have received from him, let it abide in you. And you have no need that any man teach you: but as his unction teacheth you of all things, and it is true, and it is no lie. And as it hath taught you, abide in him.

MY dearest, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits if they be of God: because, many false prophets are gone out into the world. In this is the spirit of God known. Every spirit that confesseth Jesus Christ to have come in flesh, is of God: and every spirit that dissolveth Jesus, is not of God: and this is Antichrist, of whom you have heard that he cometh, and now he is in the world. You are of God, little children, and have overcome him. Because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

They are of the world: therefore of the world they speak, and the world heareth them. We are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth us. He that is not of God, heareth us not. In this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

because many seducers are gone out into the world, which do not confess Jesus Christ to have come into flesh: this is a seducer and an Antichrist. Look to yourselves, that you lose not the things which you have wrought: but that you may receive a full reward. Every one that revolteth, and persisteth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that persisteth in the doctrine, the same hath both the Father, and the Son. If any man come to you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into the house, nor say, God save you, unto him.

For he that saith unto him, God save you, communicateth with his wicked works.

These are in their banquets, spots, feasting together without fear, feeding themselves, clouds without water which are carried about of winds, trees of autumn, unfruitful, twice dead, plucked up by the roots, raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own confusions, wandering stars: to whom the storm of darkness is reserved for ever. And of these prophesied Enoch, the seventh from Adam, saying: Behold our Lord is come in his holy thousands, to do judgement against all, and to reprove all the impious, of all the works of their impiety whereby they have done impiously, and of all the hard things which impious sinners have spoken against him.

These are murmurers, full of complaints, walking according to their own desires, and their mouth speaketh pride, admiring persons for gain sake. But you, my dearest, be mindful of the words which have been spoken before by the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, who told you, that in the last time shall come mockers, according to their own desires walking in impieties. These are they which segregate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.

But you, my dearest, building yourselves upon our most holy faith, in the Holy Ghost, praying, keep yourselves in the love of God, expecting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto life everlasting. And these certes reprove being judged: but them save, pulling out of the fire. And on other have mercy in fear: hating also that which is carnal, the spotted coat.

And to him that is able to preserve you without sin, and to set you immaculate before the sight of his glory in exultation in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the only God our Saviour by Jesus Christ our Lord be glory and magnificence, empire and power before all worlds, and now and for all worlds evermore. Amen.

The voice of a multitude in the mountains, as it were of many peoples, a voice of the sound of kings, nations gathered together: The Lord of hosts hath commanded the host of battle. Coming from a country far off, from the end of heaven: our Lord, & the instruments of his fury, to destroy the whole land. Howl ye, because the day of our Lord is near: it shall come as destruction from our Lord. For this cause shall all hands be dissolved, and every heart of man shall melt;

and be broken. Gripings and pains shall hold them, they shall be in pain as she that travaileth. Every one shall be astonied at his neighbour, their countenances as faces burnt. Behold the day of our Lord shall come, cruel, & full of indignation, & of wrath, & fury to bring the land to a wilderness, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it. Because the stars of heaven, and their brightness shall not display their light: the sun is darkened in his rising, and the moon shall not shine in her light. And I will visit over the evils of the world, and against the impious their iniquity, and I will make the pride of infidels to cease, & will humble the arrogancy of the strong.

Aman shall be more precious than gold, & man than pure fine gold. For this I shall trouble heaven: and the earth shall be moved out of her place, for the indignation of the Lord of hosts, & for the day of the wrath of his fury.

Thou shalt take this parable against the king of Babylon, and shalt say: How hath the exactor ceased, the tribute rested: Our Lord hath broken the staff of the impious, the rod of the rulers, that did beat peoples in indignation with uncurable wound, subduing nations in fury, persecuting cruelly. All earth is quiet and still, is glad & hath rejoiced.

The fir trees also have rejoiced over thee, and the cedars of Libanus: since thou hast slept, there hath none come up to hew us. Hell beneath is troubled to meet thy coming, it hath raised up the giants for thee. All the princes of the earth are risen up from their thrones, all the princes of nations. All shall answer, and say to thee: Thou also art wounded even as we, made like unto us. Thy pride is drawn down to hell, thy carcass is fallen: under thee shall the moth be strawed, and worms shall be thy covering.

How art thou fallen from heaven Lucifer, which didst rise in the morning? Art thou fallen to the earth, that didst wound nations? Which didst say in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, above the stars of God will I exalt my throne, I will sit in the mount of the testament, in the sides of the North. I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I will be like to the Highest. But yet thou shalt be drawn down to hell, into the depth of the lake.

They that shall see thee, shall turn toward thee, & behold thee: Is this the man that troubled the earth, that shaked kingdoms, that made the world a desert, & destroyed the cities thereof, opened not the prison to his prisoners? All the kings of the nations every one have slept in glory, each man in his own house. But thou art cast forth out of thy sepulchre, as an unprofitable branch polluted, and wrapped up with them that were slain by the sword, and are gone down to the foundations of the lake, as a rotten carcass.

Thou shalt not keep company with them, neither in burial, for thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people: the seed of the wicked shall not be named for ever. Prepare his children to slaughter in the iniquity of their fathers: they shall not rise up, nor inherit the land, nor fill the world with cities.

And four great beasts came up, out of the sea diverse one from another. The first as it were a lioness, & she had the wings of an eagle: I beheld till her wings were plucked off, and she was lifted up from the earth, & she stood upon the feet as a man, & the heart of a man was given to her. And behold another beast like a bear stood aside: and there were three rews in the mouth thereof, and in the teeth thereof, & thus they said to it: Arise, eat very much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo another as it were a leopard, and it had wings as of a bird, four upon it, & there were four heads in the beast, and power was given to it.

After this I beheld in the vision of the night, and lo a fourth beast terrible and marvelous, and strong exceedingly, it had great iron teeth, eating and breaking, and treading the rest with her feet: and it was unlike to the other beasts, which I had seen before it, and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and behold another little horn sprang out of the midst of them: and three of the first horns were plucked off at the presence thereof, and lo eyes as it were the eyes of a man were in this horn, & a mouth speaking great words. I beheld till thrones were set, and the ancient of days sat: his vesture white as snow, and the hairs of his head as clean wool: his throne flames of fire: his wheels fire kindled. Afire & swift stream came forth from his face: thousands of thousands ministered to him, & ten thousand hundred thousands assisted him: judgement sat, and the books were opened.

I beheld because of the voice of the great words, which that horn spake: and I saw that the beast was slain, and the body thereof was perished, and was committed to the fire to be burnt. The power of the other beasts also was taken away: and times of life were appointed them until time, and time. I beheld therefore in the vision of the night, and lo with the clouds of heaven there came in, as it were the son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days: and in his sight they offered him. And he gave him power, and honour, and kingdom: and all peoples, tribes, & tongues shall serve him: his power, an eternal power, that shall not be taken away: and his kingdom, that shall not be corrupted.

My spirit trembled, I Daniel was made sore afraid at these things, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came to one of the assistants, and I asked the truth of him concerning all these things, who told me the interpretation of the words, and taught me: These four great beasts, are four kingdoms, which shall rise up out of the earth. And they shall take the kingdom of the holy God most high: & they shall obtain the kingdom even to world, & world of worlds.

After this I would diligently learn of the fourth beast, which was very unlike from all, and exceeding terrible: his teeth and claws of iron: he did eat, and break in pieces, & the rest he stamped with his feet: and of the ten horns that he had on his head: and of the other, that had grown up, before which the three horns fell: and of that horn, that had eyes, and the mouth speaking great words, and was greater than the rest. I beheld, and lo that horn made war against the saints, and prevailed over them, till the ancient of days came, & gave judgement to the saints on High, and the time came, and the saints obtained the kingdom.

And thus he said: The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom in the earth, which shall be greater than all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall conculcate, and break it in pieces. Moreover the ten horns of that same kingdom, shall be ten kings: and another shall rise up after them, and he shall be mightier than the former, and he shall bring down three kings. And he shall speak words against the High one, and shall destroy the saints of the Highest: and he shall think that he can change times, & laws, and they shall be delivered into his hand even to a time, & times, & half a time. And judgement shall sit, that might may be taken away, and be broken, and perish even to the end.

And kingdom, and power, and the greatness of the kingdom, that is under all the heaven, be given to the people of the saints of the Highest: whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all kings shall serve him, and shall obey him. Hitherto the end of the word, I Daniel was much troubled with my cogitations, and my face was changed in me: but the word I kept in my heart.

And there shall stand in his place one despised, and kingly honour shall not be given him: and he shall come secretly, and shall obtain the kingdom by fraud. And the arms of him that fighteth shall be expugned from before his face, and shall be broken: moreover also the prince of the league. And after the amities, he shall work deceit with him: and he shall go up, and shall overcome with few people. And he shall enter abundant and plentiful cities: & he shall do things that his fathers never did, & his fathers' fathers: their robberies, and prey, & riches he shall dissipate, and shall devise devices against the best fenced: and this until a time.

And his strength & his heart shall be stirred up against the king of the South in a great army: and the king of the South shall be provoked to battle with many aids, and exceeding strong: & they shall not stand because they shall take counsels against him. And they that eat bread with him, shall destroy him, and his army shall be oppressed: & there shall fall slain very many. The heart also of the two kings shall be to evil, and at one table they shall speak lies, and they shall not prosper: because as yet the end unto another time. And he shall return into his land with much riches: and his heart against the holy testament, and he shall prosper and shall return into his own land.

At the time appointed he shall return, and he shall come to the South, and the later end shall not be like to the former. And there shall come upon him galleys, and the Romans, and he shall be strucken, and shall return, and shall fret against the testament of the sanctuary, and he shall speed: and shall return, and shall devise against them, that have forsaken the testament of the sanctuary. And of him shall stand arms, and shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the continual sacrifice: and they shall give abomination into desolation. And the impious against the testament shall dissemble fraudulently: but the people that knoweth their God, shall obtain, and shall do.

And the learned in the people shall teach very many: and they shall fall by sword, and by flame, and by captivity, and by spoil of days. And when they are fallen, they shall be relieved with a little aid: and very many shall be joined to them feignedly. And of the learned there shall fall, that they may be tried, and may be chosen, and made white even to the time prefixed: because yet there shall be another time. And the king shall do according to his will, and shall be elevated, & magnified against every god: and against the God of gods he shall speak magnifical things, & shall be directed, till the wrath be accomplished: for the determination is made.

And the God of his fathers he shall not account of: and he shall be in the concupiscences of women, neither shall he care for any of the gods: because he shall rise up against all things. But god Maozim he shall worship in his place: and the god whom his fathers knew not, he shall worship with gold, and silver, and precious stone, and precious things. And he shall do it to fence Maozim with a strange god, whom he acknowledged, and he shall multiply glory, and shall give them power in many, and shall divide the land gratis. And in the time prefixed shall the king of the South make battle against him, & as a tempest shall the king of the North come against him in chariots, and in horsemen, and in a great navy, and he shall enter the lands, and shall destroy, and pass through.

And he shall enter into the glorious land, and many shall fall: but these only shall be saved out of his hand, Edom, and Moab, and the beginning of the children of Ammon. And he shall lay his hand upon the lands: and the Land of Ægypt shall not escape. And he shall rule over the treasures of gold, and of silver, and in all the precious things of Ægypt: through Libya also, and Æthiopia he shall pass. And a bruit shall trouble him from the East, and from the North: and he shall come in a great multitude to destroy and kill very many.

And he shall pitch his tabernacle Apadno between the seas, upon a mount glorious and holy: and he shall come even to the top thereof, and no man shall help him.

And I saw a beast coming up from the sea, having seven heads, and ten horns, & upon his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads names of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw, was like to a libard, and his feet as of a bear, and his mouth, as the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his own force and great power. And I saw one of his heads as it were slain to death: and the wound of his death was cured. And all the earth was in admiration after the beast. And they adored the dragon which gave power to the beast: and they adored the beast, saying: Who is like to the beast? and who shall be able to fight with it?

And there was given to it a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies: and power was given to it to work two and forty months. And he opened his mouth unto blasphemies toward God, to blaspheme his name, & his tabernacle, & those that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make battail with the saints, & to overcome them. And power was given him upon every tribe and people, and tongue, and nation, and all that inhabit the earth, adored it, whose names be not written in the book of life of the Lamb, which was slain from the beginning of the world.

If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that shall lead into captivity, goeth into captivity: he that shall kill in the sword, he must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of saints.

“Watch” over your life: “let your lamps” be not quenched “and your loins” be not ungirded, but be “ready,” for ye know not “the hour in which our Lord cometh.” But be frequently gathered together seeking the things which are profitable for your souls, for the whole time of your faith shall not profit you except ye be found perfect at the last time; for in the last days the false prophets and the corrupters shall be multiplied, and the sheep shall be turned into wolves, and love shall change to hate; for as lawlessness increaseth they shall hate one another and persecute and betray, and then shall appear the deceiver of the world as a Son of God, and shall do signs and wonders and the earth shall be given over into his hands and he shall commit iniquities which have never been since the world began.

Then shall the creation of mankind come to the fiery trial and “many shall be offended” and be lost, but “they who endure” in their faith “shall be saved” by the curse itself. And “then shall appear the signs” of the truth. First the sign spread out in Heaven, then the sign of the sound of the trumpet, and thirdly the resurrection of the dead: but not of all the dead, but as it was said, “The Lord shall come and all his saints with him.” Then shall the world “see the Lord coming on the clouds of Heaven.”

Furthermore it was written concerning the Sabbath in the ten words which he spake on Mount Sinai face to face to Moses. “Sanctify also the Sabbath of the Lord with pure hands and a pure heart.” And in another place he says, “If my sons keep the Sabbath, then will I bestow my mercy upon them.” He speaks of the Sabbath at the beginning of the Creation, “And God made in six days the works of his hands and on the seventh day he made an end, and rested in it and sanctified it.”

Notice, children, what is the meaning of “He made an end in six days”? He means this: that the Lord will make an end of everything in six thousand years, for a day with him means a thousand years. And he himself is my witness when he says, “Lo, the day of the Lord shall be as a thousand years.” So then, children, in six days, that is in six thousand years, everything will be completed.

“And he rested on the seventh day.” This means, when his Son comes he will destroy the time of the wicked one, and will judge the godless, and will change the sun and the moon and the stars, and then he will truly rest on the seventh day. Furthermore he says, “Thou shalt sanctify it with clean hands and a pure heart.” If, then, anyone has at present the power to keep holy the day which God made holy, by being pure in heart, we are altogether deceived.

See that we shall indeed keep it holy at that time, when we enjoy true rest, when we shall be able to do so because we have been made righteous ourselves and have received the promise, when there is no more sin, but all things have been made new by the Lord: then we shall be able to keep it holy because we ourselves have first been made holy.

Furthermore he says to them, “Your new moons and the sabbaths I cannot away with.” Do you see what he means? The present sabbaths are not acceptable to me, but that which I have made, in which I will give rest to all things and make the beginning of an eighth day, that is the beginning of another world. Wherefore we also celebrate with gladness the eighth day in which Jesus also rose from the dead, and was made manifest, and ascended into Heaven.

And not only by the particulars already mentioned, but also by means of the events which shall occur in the time of Antichrist is it shown that he, being an apostate and a robber, is anxious to be adored as God; and that, although a mere slave, he wishes himself to be proclaimed as a king.

For he (Antichrist) being endued with all the power of the devil, shall come, not as a righteous king, nor as a legitimate king, [i.e., one] in subjection to God, but an impious, unjust, and lawless one; as an apostate, iniquitous and murderous; as a robber, concentrating in himself [all] satanic apostasy, and setting aside idols to persuade [men] that he himself is God, raising up himself as the only idol, having in himself the multifarious errors of the other idols.

This he does, in order that they who do [now] worship the devil by means of many abominations, may serve himself by this one idol, of whom the apostle thus speaks in the second Epistle to the Thessalonians: “Unless there shall come a falling away first, and the man of sin shall be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God.” The apostle therefore clearly points out his apostasy, and that he is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped—that is, above every idol—for these are indeed so called by men, but are not [really] gods; and that he will endeavour in a tyrannical manner to set himself forth as God.

Daniel too, looking forward to the end of the last kingdom, i.e., the ten last kings, among whom the kingdom of those men shall be partitioned, and upon whom the son of perdition shall come, declares that ten horns shall spring from the beast, and that another little horn shall arise in the midst of them, and that three of the former shall be rooted up before his face.

He says: “And, behold, eyes were in this horn as the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things, and his look was more stout than his fellows. I was looking, and this horn made war against the saints, and prevailed against them, until the Ancient of days came and gave judgment to the saints of the most high God, and the time came, and the saints obtained the kingdom.”

Then, further on, in the interpretation of the vision, there was said to him: “The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall excel all other kingdoms, and devour the whole earth, and tread it down, and cut it in pieces.

And its ten horns are ten kings which shall arise; and after them shall arise another, who shall surpass in evil deeds all that were before him, and shall overthrow three kings; and he shall speak words against the most high God, and wear out the saints of the most high God, and shall purpose to change times and laws; and [everything] shall be given into his hand until a time of times and a half time,”

that is, for three years and six months, during which time, when he comes, he shall reign over the earth.

Of whom also the Apostle Paul again, speaking in the second [Epistle] to the Thessalonians, and at the same time proclaiming the cause of his advent, thus says: “And then shall the wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the spirit of His mouth, and destroy by the presence of His coming; whose coming [i.e., the wicked one’s] is after the working of Satan, in all power, and signs, and portents of lies, and with all deceivableness of wickedness for those who perish; because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

And therefore God will send them the working of error, that they may believe a lie; that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but gave consent to iniquity.”

In a still clearer light has John, in the Apocalypse, indicated to the Lord’s disciples what shall happen in the last times, and concerning the ten kings who shall then arise, among whom the empire which now rules [the earth] shall be partitioned.

He teaches us what the ten horns shall be which were seen by Daniel, telling us that thus it had been said to him: “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet, but shall receive power as if kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and give their strength and power to the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, because He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings.”

It is manifest, therefore, that of these [potentates], he who is to come shall slay three, and subject the remainder to his power, and that he shall be himself the eighth among them. And they shall lay Babylon waste, and burn her with fire, and shall give their kingdom to the beast, and put the Church to flight. After that they shall be destroyed by the coming of our Lord.

For that the kingdom must be divided, and thus come to ruin, the Lord [declares when He] says: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.” It must be, therefore, that the kingdom, the city, and the house be divided into ten; and for this reason He has already foreshadowed the partition and division [which shall take place].

Daniel also says particularly, that the end of the fourth kingdom consists in the toes of the image seen by Nebuchadnezzar, upon which came the stone cut out without hands; and as he does himself say: “The feet were indeed the one part iron, the other part clay, until the stone was cut out without hands, and struck the image upon the iron and clay feet, and dashed them into pieces, even to the end.”

Then afterwards, when interpreting this, he says: “And as thou sawest the feet and the toes, partly indeed of clay, and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided, and there shall be in it a root of iron, as thou sawest iron mixed with baked clay. And the toes were indeed the one part iron, but the other part clay.”

The ten toes, therefore, are these ten kings, among whom the kingdom shall be partitioned, of whom some indeed shall be strong and active, or energetic; others, again, shall be sluggish and useless, and shall not agree; as also Daniel says: “Some part of the kingdom shall be strong, and part shall be broken from it. As thou sawest the iron mixed with the baked clay, there shall be minglings among the human race, but no cohesion one with the other, just as iron cannot be welded on to pottery ware.”

And since an end shall take place, he says: “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven raise up a kingdom which shall never decay, and His kingdom shall not be left to another people. It shall break in pieces and shatter all kingdoms, and shall itself be exalted for ever. As thou sawest that the stone was cut without hands from the mountain, and brake in pieces the baked clay, the iron, the brass, the silver, and the gold, God has pointed out to the king what shall come to pass after these things; and the dream is true, and the interpretation trustworthy.”

And what comes to pass after this? He says next, When therefore you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, standing in the Holy Place, let him that reads understand. And again, Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is the Christ, or, Lo, there; believe it not. Hatred of the brethren makes room next for Antichrist; for the devil prepares beforehand the divisions among the people, that he who is to come may be acceptable to them.

But God forbid that any of Christ’s servants here, or elsewhere, should run over to the enemy! Writing concerning this matter, the Apostle Paul gave a manifest sign, saying, For that day shall not come, except there came first the falling away, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

Do you not remember that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now you know that which restrains, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season. For the mystery of iniquity does already work, only there is one that restrains now, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall the lawless one be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming.

Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that are perishing. Thus wrote Paul, and now is the falling away. For men have fallen away from the right faith; and some preach the identity of the Son with the Father, and others dare to say that Christ was brought into being out of nothing.

And formerly the heretics were manifest; but now the Church is filled with heretics in disguise. For men have fallen away from the truth, and have itching ears. Is it a plausible discourse? All listen to it gladly. Is it a word of correction? All turn away from it. Most have departed from right words, and rather choose the evil, than desire the good.

This therefore is the falling away, and the enemy is soon to be looked for: and meanwhile he has in part begun to send forth his own forerunners, that he may then come prepared upon the prey. Look therefore to yourself, O man, and make safe your soul. The Church now charges you before the Living God; she declares to you the things concerning Antichrist before they arrive.

Whether they will happen in your time we know not, or whether they will happen after you we know not; but it is well that, knowing these things, you should make yourself secure beforehand.

What is ‘the falling away?’ He calls him Apostasy, as being about to destroy many, and make them fall away. So that if it were possible, He says, the very Elect should be offended. And he calls him ‘the man of sin.’ For he shall do numberless mischiefs, and shall cause others to do them. But he calls him ‘the son of perdition,’ because he is also to be destroyed. But who is he? Is it then Satan? By no means; but some man, that admits his fully working in him. For he is a man. ‘And exalteth himself against all that is called God or is worshipped.’ For he will not introduce idolatry, but will be a kind of opponent to God; he will abolish all the gods, and will order men to worship him instead of God, and he will be seated in the temple of God, not that in Jerusalem only, but also in every Church.

But I see others, to whom are assigned, through their position as teachers, the duties of exhorting and reproving, who behold some unlawfulness committed, and who yet, when afraid of losing the good will of certain powerful persons, presume not to reprove it. What else doth he, whoever he be, but see the wolf coming, and flee away? He flies, because he was silent; he was silent, because he despised eternal grace, and preferred temporal glory.

Behold he hid himself within the concealments of his silence before the face of a powerful man, and gave way as to open persecution, so also to secret fear. It is well said of such; ‘They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.’ If these things are strictly judged, whoever is such, even though public persecution was wanting, yet denied Christ by his silence. There are not wanting then, even in the peace of the Church, the temptations of Antichrist.

For, for what else is the high arm taken, but the proud loftiness of Antichrist, who is so exalted over the reprobate minds of men with the pride of worldly glory, that though a sinful man, and yet scorning to be counted a man, he pretends falsely that he is God above men? Whence the Apostle Paul says; ‘So that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself, as if he were God.’

And to shew his pride more fully, he stated before, ‘Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped.’ For even a man can sometimes be called God, according to that which is said to Moses, ‘See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh.’ But a mere man cannot be worshipped as God.

But because Antichrist sets himself up over all holy men, and over the power of the Godhead Itself, he endeavours to surpass that which is called God, and that which is worshipped as God, by demanding for himself the name of glory. But we must observe into what a depth of pride he has fallen, who remained not in that degree of ruin, in which he fell.

For both the devil and man fell, by pride, from the state of their own creation, either for him to say, ‘I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I will be like the Most High,’ or for the other to hear and to believe, ‘Your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods.’ They fell, therefore, both of them, because they desired to be like God, not by righteousness, but by power.

But man who had fallen, by perversely aiming at the likeness of God, discerning, when freed by grace, that he was very different from God, through the guilt of sin, exclaims, ‘O Lord, who is like unto Thee?’ But the devil, having been justly cast aside in his sinful lapse, continued not in his own degree of ruin; but the longer he was deprived of the grace of the Almighty, the more did he add to the guilt of his sins.

For he who fell, because he wished, inverting the order of things, to be like God, was brought so far, that entering into Antichrist, he scorned to seem like God, and, when condemned, counts Him as his inferior, Whom he could not in his pride regard as his equal.

For when this, which we have stated before, is said of him; ‘Exalting himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped;’ it is openly shown, that by seeking at first the likeness of God, he wished, as it were, to exalt himself against God, but that increasing in the sin of pride, he now sets himself up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped.

Because then this his pride will be smitten by the coming of the strict Judge, (as it is written, ‘Whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming,’) it is rightly said, ‘And the high arm shall be broken.’

Whence it is also fitly subjoined, The seal shall be restored, as clay.

As if he were openly saying; They who now appear in the bosom of the Church as a ‘seal,’ will then in the sight of all men be restored as ‘clay:’ that is, they deceive not the judgments of men concerning their profession of religion, but it is proved that they savour of earthly things. For Holy Scripture is wont to use the word ‘seal’ for faith, and ‘clay’ for iniquity. For the younger son, who returned to his father, having consumed his substance, received a ring as a present.

For the Gentile people, which returns to God, by penitence, having lost its immortality, is defended by the seal of faith. Whence also it is said to the Church by its Bridegroom, Set Me as a seal upon thine heart. For a seal is placed on things for the very purpose that they may not be violated by any boldness of plunderers.

The Bridegroom therefore is placed as a seal on the heart, when the mystery of His faith is imprinted for the safe keeping of our thought; in order that that unfaithful servant, namely our adversary, observing our hearts sealed by faith, may not presume to break in upon them with temptation. But by ‘clay’ worldly infection is set forth, as the Psalmist bears witness, who says, He brought me up out of the pit of misery, and the deepest clay.

Because many then who are found in worldly infection, are sealed, when brought to the Church, with the sacrament of heavenly faith, and yet depart not from their wicked deeds, and conceal themselves now under the cloke of faith, and yet shew what they really are, when they have found an opportunity, it is rightly said, The seal shall be restored as clay.

For those whom we now believe to be faithful, we shall then find to be the very enemies of the faith; and though, when not tempted, they appear to be a ‘seal,’ they will doubtless, when tempted, be ‘clay.’ Whence also it is rightly said, Shall be restored: for their reprobate life proves them afterwards to be such, as their conscience could have done before their faith. Of whom it is fitly subjoined, And shall stand as a garment.

But let no one inconsiderately flatter himself, and believe that he therefore is exempt from such a fall, because he thinks that he does not reach to the storm of this tempest.

O how many have beheld not the times of that temptation, and yet are involved in the storm of his temptation. Cain saw not the time of Antichrist, and yet was deservedly a limb of Antichrist. Judas knew not the fierceness of that persecution, and yet yielded to the might of his cruelty, by the persuasion of avarice. Simon was far removed from the times of Antichrist, and yet joined himself to his pride, by perversely seeking for the power of miracles.

Thus a wicked body is united to its head, thus limbs to limbs, when they both know not each other in acquaintance, and yet are joined together by wicked doings. For neither had Pergamos known the books or the words of Balaam, and yet, following his wickedness, it heard in a voice of reproof from above; Thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat and to commit fornication.

Both times and places separated the Church of Thyatira from the knowledge of Jezebel; but because equal guilt of life had enthralled it, Jezebel is said to dwell therein, and to persist in perverse doings, as the Angel bears witness, who says; I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

Behold, because they could be found, who followed the conduct of Jezebel in their reprobate deeds, Jezebel is said to have been found there: because an agreement of habits makes a corrupt body one, even if times or places sever it asunder. Whence it is that every wicked person, who has already gone by, survives in his perverse imitators, and that the author of iniquity, who has not yet come, is already visible in those who do his works.

Hence John says; Now are there become many Antichrists, because all wicked persons are even now his members, which being in truth born in wickedness, have prevented their head, by evil living. Hence Paul says; That he might be revealed in his time; for the mystery of iniquity doth already work. As if he were saying; Then Antichrist will be manifestly seen; for he now secretly works his hidden works in the hearts of the unrighteous.

For, to say nothing of more open crimes, behold one man secretly envies his brother in his heart, and if he find an opportunity, strives to supplant him. Of what other is he a member, but of him, of whom it is written, Through envy of the devil came death into the world? Another, thinking himself a person of great desert, preferring himself to all, through swelling of heart, believes all to be inferior to him.

Of what other is he a member, but of him of whom it is written, He beholdeth every high thing, and is a king over all the children of pride? Another seeks for the power of this world, not that he may profit others, but that he may not be subject to another. Of what other is he a member, than of him, of whom it is written, Who said, I will sit in the mount of the testament, the sides of the north: I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I will be like the Most High?

For the Most High alone so rules over all things, as to be unable to be subject to another. Whom the devil perversely wished to imitate, when seeking dominion of his own, he refused to be subject to Him. Whoever therefore seeks for power of his own, imitates the devil, because he loathes to submit to him who is placed over him by Divine ordinance.

There are many things besides, to proclaim certain persons to be faithless, though established in the peace of the Church.

For I see that some persons so accept the person of the powerful, as not to hesitate, when requested by him, to deny, for his good will, the truth in the cause of a neighbour. And who is Truth, but He who said, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life? For John the Baptist died not, when questioned about his confession of Christ, but about the truth of justice; but because Christ is the Truth, he therefore went even to death for Christ, because namely for the truth.

Let us suppose that a person has, when questioned, accepted the person of the powerful, and has denied the truth, that he might not suffer the wrong even of a word. What, I pray you, would he do in the pain of punishments, who was ashamed of Christ among the scourges of words? Behold, even after this he is still a Christian before the eyes of men, and yet if God resolved to judge him strictly, he is one no longer.

The ‘gates of his face’ are wicked teachers, who are called the gates of his face for this reason, because, every one enters through them, in order that this Leviathan may be seen, as it were, in the princedom of his power. For as sacred Scripture is wont to call holy men gates of Sion, (for Sion is by interpretation, ‘watching,’ and we deservedly call holy preachers the gates of Sion, because by their life and doctrine we enter the secrets of heavenly contemplation,) so also are the teachers of errors signified by the gates of this Leviathan; for when their false preaching is received, the way of perdition is opened to their wretched hearers. But these gates are generally opened before the eyes of men, in order to admit, but yet are closed in order to seize; because in appearance they present right things, but in their doings they persuade evil things. They are closed therefore in order to seize, because they are kept by outward hypocrisy from being discerned within. But yet the Lord opens them with wonderful power; because He makes the hearts of hypocrites comprehensible to His Elect. Who, therefore, will open the gates of His face? Thou understandest, except Myself, Who make manifest with clear understanding to My Elect the teachers of errors who are concealed beneath the semblance of sanctity. And because Antichrist, who rages with a twofold error, and endeavours both to draw the hearts of men to himself by sending his preachers, and to bend them by exciting the powers of the world, will also gain possession of these chief powers, the Lord well added concerning this Leviathan, saying, In a circle is the terror of his teeth.

For He wished to change the expression, and, in another phrase, to call these his ‘teeth,’ whom He had above called ‘gates.’ For false preachers are his ‘gates,’ because they open the entrance to perdition. They are his ‘teeth,’ because they break down from the solidity of truth those whom they seize in error. For as by the teeth of Holy Church we understand those who crush by their preachings the hardness of sinners, (whence it is said to her by Solomon, Thy teeth as flocks of sheep that have been shorn, coming up from the washing; and they are deservedly compared to shorn and washed sheep, because when assuming an innocent life they laid aside the old fleeces of their former conversation in the laver of Baptism,) so also the teachers of errors are typified by the teeth of this Leviathan. Because they mangle with their bite the life of the reprobate, and offer them, when withdrawn from the integrity of truth, in the sacrifice of falsehood. Their preaching might easily be despised by their hearers, but the additional terror of worldly powers exalts it in the judgment of men.

It is, therefore, rightly said, In a circle is the terror of his teeth, that is, the corrupted powers of this world protect the wicked preachers of Antichrist. For many of the powerful strive to alarm by cruelty those whom they seek to seduce with their words. In a circle, therefore, is the terror of his teeth. As if it were openly said, These false preachers crush some by their persuasions, because there are others around them, who afflict with their terrors the minds of the weak. What a season of persecution will that appear, then, when some rage with words, and others with swords, to pervert the piety of the faithful? For who would not despise, even if he were weak, the teeth of this Leviathan, if terror did not defend them by a circle of worldly powers? But they are proceeded against with twofold cunning, because that which is said to them by some with flattering words, is enforced by others with the blows of swords. And the conduct of both of these, that is, of the powerful, and the persuasive, is summed up in the Apocalypse of John, in a short sentence, wherein it is said, The power of the horses was in their mouth, and in their tails. For by the ‘mouth’ is typified the knowledge of the learned, but by the ‘tail’ the power of men of the world. For by the ‘tail’ which is behind is designated the temporal condition of this world which must be put behind us, of which the Apostle Paul says, But one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. For every thing which passes by, is behind; but every thing which coming abides, is before. The power therefore of these horses, that is, of most evil preachers, who are hurrying on every where by carnal impulse, is in their mouth and their tail. Because they themselves indeed preach perverse things in their persuasion, but, by relying on temporal powers, exalt themselves by means of those things which are behind. And because they themselves may possibly appear despicable, they exact respect to themselves from their wicked hearers, by means of those, by whose patronage they are supported. Whence in this place also fear is rightly described as being in the circle of his teeth, because it is caused by many terrors that temporal power, though not the sentence of truth, is certainly dreaded in their perverse preachings. Whence the Psalmist well described this same Antichrist, saying, Under his tongue is labour, and sorrow: he sitteth in ambush with the rich in secret places.

But because there can be no innocence, no true obedience, in the manifold divisions of heretics, let those who come to the knowledge of the faith offer a lamb, but only one; and an earring, but only one. That is, let them come so minded as to abide innocent and obedient in the unity of Holy Church. For that which is ‘one’ cannot be divided by numbers, because also this very ‘one’ of which we are speaking, is not a number. Let them offer therefore a sheep, but only one; let them offer an earring, but only one. That is, coming to Holy Church with innocence and obedience, let them offer such a mind as the schisms of sects cannot divide.

Objection 1. It would seem that Anti-christ is not the head of the wicked. For there are not several heads of one body. But the devil is the head of the multitude of the wicked. Therefore Anti-christ is not their head.

Objection 2. Further, Anti-christ is a member of the devil. Now the head is distinguished from the members. Therefore Anti-christ is not the head of the wicked.

Objection 3. Further, the head has an influence over the members. But Anti-christ has no influence over the wicked who have preceded him. Therefore Anti-christ is not the head of the wicked.

On the contrary, A gloss [St. Gregory, Moral. xv] on Job 21:29, ‘Ask any of them that go by the way,’ says: ‘Whilst he was speaking of the body of all the wicked, suddenly he turned his speech to Anti-christ the head of all evil-doers.’

I answer that, As was said above, in the head are found three things: order, perfection, and the power of influencing. But as regards the order of the body, Anti-christ is not said to be the head of the wicked as if his sin had preceded, as the sin of the devil preceded.

So likewise he is not called the head of the wicked from the power of influencing, although he will pervert some in his day by exterior persuasion; nevertheless those who were before him were not beguiled into wickedness by him nor have imitated his wickedness. Hence he cannot be called the head of all the wicked in this way, but of some. Therefore it remains to be said that he is the head of all the wicked by reason of the perfection of his wickedness.

Hence, on 2 Thessalonians 2:4, ‘Showing himself as if he were God,’ a gloss says: ‘As in Christ dwelt the fulness of the Godhead, so in Anti-christ the fulness of all wickedness.’ Not indeed as if his humanity were assumed by the devil into unity of person, as the humanity of Christ by the Son of God; but that the devil by suggestion infuses his wickedness more copiously into him than into all others.

And in this way all the wicked who have gone before are signs of Anti-christ, according to 2 Thessalonians 2:7, ‘For the mystery of iniquity already worketh.’

Reply to Objection 1. The devil and Anti-christ are not two heads, but one; since Anti-christ is called the head, inasmuch as the wickedness of the devil is most fully impressed on him.

Hence, on 2 Thessalonians 2:4, ‘Showing himself as if he were God,’ a gloss says: ‘The head of all the wicked, namely the devil, who is king over all the children of pride will be in him.’ Now he is said to be in him not by personal union, nor by indwelling, since ‘the Trinity alone dwells in the mind’ (as is said De Eccles. Dogm. lxxxiii), but by the effect of wickedness.

Reply to Objection 2. As the head of Christ is God, and yet He is the Head of the Church, as was said above, so likewise Anti-christ is a member of the devil and yet is head of the wicked.

Reply to Objection 3. Anti-christ is said to be the head of all the wicked not by a likeness of influence, but by a likeness of perfection. For in him the devil, as it were, brings his wickedness to a head, in the same way that anyone is said to bring his purpose to a head when he executes it.

But since Celsus rejects the statements concerning Antichrist, as it is termed, having neither read what is said of him in the book of Daniel nor in the writings of Paul, nor what the Saviour in the Gospels has predicted about his coming, we must make a few remarks upon this subject also; because, “as faces do not resemble faces,” so also neither do men’s “hearts” resemble one another. It is certain, then, that there will be diversities among the hearts of men—those which are inclined to virtue not being all modelled and shaped towards it in the same or like degree; while others, through neglect of virtue, rush to the opposite extreme. And among the latter are some in whom evil is deeply engrained, and others in whom it is less deeply rooted. Where is the absurdity, then, in holding that there exist among men, so to speak, two extremes—the one of virtue, and the other of its opposite; so that the perfection of virtue dwells in the man who realizes the ideal given in Jesus, from whom there flowed to the human race so great a conversion, and healing, and amelioration, while the opposite extreme is in the man who embodies the notion of him that is named Antichrist? For God, comprehending all things by means of His foreknowledge, and foreseeing what consequences would result from both of these, wished to make these known to mankind by His prophets, that those who understand their words might be familiarized with the good, and be on their guard against its opposite. It was proper, moreover, that the one of these extremes, and the best of the two, should be styled the Son of God, on account of His pre-eminence; and the other, who is diametrically opposite, be termed the son of the wicked demon, and of Satan, and of the devil. And, in the next place, since evil is specially characterized by its diffusion, and attains its greatest height when it simulates the appearance of the good, for that reason are signs, and marvels, and lying miracles found to accompany evil, through the co-operation of its father the devil. For, far surpassing the help which these demons give to jugglers (who deceive men for the basest of purposes), is the aid which the devil himself affords in order to deceive the human race. Paul, indeed, speaks of him who is called Antichrist, describing, though with a certain reserve, both the manner, and time, and cause of his coming to the human race.

“And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming: even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

To explain each particular here referred to does not belong to our present purpose. The prophecy also regarding Antichrist is stated in the book of Daniel, and is fitted to make an intelligent and candid reader admire the words as truly divine and prophetic; for in them are mentioned the things relating to the coming kingdom, beginning with the times of Daniel, and continuing to the destruction of the world. And any one who chooses may read it. Observe, however, whether the prophecy regarding Antichrist be not as follows: “And at the latter time of their kingdom, when their sins are coming to the full, there shall arise a king, bold in countenance, and understanding riddles. And his power shall be great, and he shall destroy wonderfully, and prosper, and practise; and shall destroy mighty men, and the holy people. And the yoke of his chain shall prosper: there is craft in his hand, and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by craft shall destroy many; and he shall stand up for the destruction of many, and shall crush them as eggs in his hand.” What is stated by Paul in the words quoted from him, where he says, “so that he sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God,” is in Daniel referred to in the following fashion: “And on the temple shall be the abomination of desolations, and at the end of the time an end shall be put to the desolation.” So many, out of a greater number of passages, have I thought it right to adduce, that the hearer may understand in some slight degree the meaning of holy Scripture, when it gives us information concerning the devil and Antichrist; and being satisfied with what we have quoted for this purpose, let us look at another of the charges of Celsus, and reply to it as we best may.

And He answered and said unto me: Into twelve parts is that time divided, and each one of them is reserved for that which is appointed for it.

In the first part there shall be the beginning of commotions. And in the second part slayings of the great ones. And in the third part the fall of many by death. And in the fourth part the sending of desolation. And in the fifth part famine and the withholding of rain. And in the sixth part earthquakes and terrors. [Wanting.] And in the eighth part a multitude of spectres and attacks of the Shedim. And in the ninth part the fall of fire. And in the tenth part rapine and much oppression. And in the eleventh part wickedness and unchastity. And in the twelfth part confusion from the mingling together of all those things aforesaid.

For these parts of that time are reserved, and shall be mingled one with another and minister one to another. For some shall leave out some of their own, and receive in its stead from others, and some complete their own and that of others, so that those may not understand who are upon the earth in those days that this is the consummation of the times.

For that time shall arise which brings affliction; for it shall come and pass by with quick vehemence, and it shall be turbulent coming in the heat of indignation. And it shall come to pass in those days that all the inhabitants of the earth shall be moved one against another, because they know not that My judgment has drawn nigh.

For there shall not be found many wise at that time, and the intelligent shall be but a few: moreover, even those who know shall most of all be silent. And there shall be many rumours and tidings not a few, and the doings of phantasmata shall be manifest, and promises not a few be recounted, some of them shall prove idle, and some of them shall be confirmed.

And honour shall be turned into shame, and strength humiliated into contempt, and probity destroyed, and beauty shall become ugliness. And many shall say to many at that time: Where hath the multitude of intelligence hidden itself, and whither hath the multitude of wisdom removed itself?

And whilst they are meditating these things, then envy shall arise in those who had not thought aught of themselves, and passion shall seize him that is peaceful, and many shall be stirred up in anger to injure many, and they shall rouse up armies in order to shed blood, and in the end they shall perish together with them.

And it shall come to pass at the self-same time, that a change of times shall manifestly appear to every man, because in all those times they polluted themselves and they practised oppression, and walked every man in his own works, and remembered not the law of the Mighty One.

Therefore a fire shall consume their thoughts, and in flame shall the meditations of their reins be tried: for the Judge shall come and will not tarry. Because each of the inhabitants of the earth knew when he was transgressing. But My law they knew not by reason of their pride. But many shall then assuredly weep, yea, over the living more than over the dead.

And I answered and said: O Adam, what hast thou done to all those who are born from thee? And what will be said to the first Eve who hearkened to the serpent? For all this multitude are going to corruption, nor is there any numbering of those whom the fire devours.

Know ye therefore, my children, that in the last times your sons will forsake singleness, and will cleave unto insatiable desire; and leaving guilelessness will draw near to malice; and forsaking the commandments of the Lord, they will cleave unto Beliar.

And leaving husbandry, they will follow after their own wicked devices, and they shall be dispersed among the Gentiles, and shall serve their enemies.

And do you therefore give these commands to your children, that, if they sin, they may the more quickly return to the Lord; for He is merciful, and will deliver them, even to bring them back into their land.

And Jesus answering, said to them: Beware that no man seduce you: for many shall come in my name saying, I am Christ; and they shall seduce many. For you shall hear of wars, & bruits of wars. See that ye be not troubled. For these things must be done, but the end is not yet. For Nation shall rise against Nation, and Kingdom against Kingdom; and there shall be pestilences, and famines, and earth-quakes in places;

and all these things are the beginnings of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you into tribulation, and shall kill you: and you shall be odious to all Nations for my name's sake. And then many shall be scandalized: and they shall deliver up one another: and they shall hate one another. And many false-prophets shall rise, and shall seduce many.

And because iniquity shall abound, the charity of many shall wax cold. But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved. And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in the whole world, for a testimony to all nations, and then shall come the consummation. Therefore when you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, standing in the holy place (he that readeth, let him understand)

then they that are in Jewry, let them flee to the mountains: and he that is on the house-top let him not come down to take any thing out of his house: and he that is in the field, let him not go back to take his coat. And woe to them that are with child, and that give suck in those days.

But pray that your flight be not in the winter, or on the Sabboth, For there shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be. And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the Elect the days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you: Lo here is Christ, or there; do not believe him.

For there shall rise false Christs and false-Prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, so that the Elect also (if it be possible) may be induced into error. Lo I have foretold you. If therefore they shall say unto you: Behold he is in the desert; go ye not out: Behold in the closets, believe it not. For as lightning cometh out of the east, and appeareth even into the west, so shall also the advent of the Son of man be.

Wheresoever the body is, thither shall the Eagles also be gathered together. And immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from Heaven, and the powers of Heaven shall be moved: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in Heaven: and then shall all tribes of the earth bewail: and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of Heaven with much power and majesty. And he shall send his Angels with a trumpet, and a great voice: and they shall gather together his Elect from the four winds, from the furthest parts of Heaven even to the ends thereof.

And he said to his Disciples: The days will come when you shall desire to see one day of the Son of man; and you shall not see. And they will say to you: Lo here and lo there. Go not, neither do ye follow after. For even as the lightning that lighteneth from under Heaven, unto those parts that are under Heaven, shineth: so shall the Son of man be in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected of this generation.

And as it came to pass in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat and drink, they did marry wives and were given to marriage even until the day that Noe entered into the ark: and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise as it came to pass in the days of Lot: They did eat and drink, bought and sold, planted, and builded: and in the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire & brimstone from Heaven, & destroyed them all:

according to these things it shall be in the day that the Son of man shall be revealed. In that hour he that shall be in the house-top, and his vessels in the house, let him not go down to take them up: & he that is in the field, in like manner let him not return back. Be mindful of Lot's wife. Whosoever seeketh to save his life, shall lose it: and Whosoever doth lose the same, shall quicken it.

Isay to you, in that night there shall be two in one bed: the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left: two women shall be grinding together: the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. two in the field: the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. They answering say to him: Where Lord? Who said to them: Wheresoever the body shall be, thither will the eagles also be gathered together.

Search the scriptures, for you think in them to have life everlasting: & the same are they that give testimony of me: and you will not come to me that you may have life. Glory of men I receive not. But I have known you, that the love of God you have not in you.

I am come in the name of my Father, and you receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive. How can you believe, that receive glory one of another: and the glory which is of God only, you seek not? Think not that I will accuse you to the Father. There is that accuseth you, Moyses, in whom you trust. For if you did believe Moyses: you would perhaps believe me also. For of me he hath written.

And if you do not believe his writings: how will you believe my words.

If there rise in the midst of thee a Prophet, or one that saith he hath seen a dream, and foretell a sign and a wonder, and it come to pass which he spake, and he say to thee: Let us go, and follow strange gods, which thou knowest not, and let us serve them: thou shalt not hear the words of that Prophet or dreamer: for the Lord your God tempteth you, that it may appear whether you love him or not, with all your heart, and with all your soul. Follow the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and hear his voice: him you shall serve, and to him you shall cleave.

And that Prophet or forger of dreams shall be slain: because he spake that he might avert you from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the Land of Ægypt, and redeemed you from the house of servitude: that he might make thee to err from the way, that the Lord thy God commanded thee: and thou shalt take away the evil out of the midst of thee.

And out of one of them came forth one little horn: and it was made great against the South, and against the East, and against the strength. And it was magnified even unto the strength of heaven: and it threw down of the strength, and of the stars, and trod them. And it was magnified even unto the prince of the strength: and from him it took the continual sacrifice, and threw down the place of his sanctification. And strength was given against the continual sacrifice because of sins: and truth shall be thrown prostrate on the ground, and he shall do, and shall prosper.

And I heard one of the saints speaking, & one saint said to another, I know not to whom that spake: How long the vision, and the continual sacrifice, and the sin of the desolation that is made: and the sanctuary, and the strength shall be conculcate? And he said to him: Unto the evening & morning, two thousand three hundred: & the sanctuary shall be cleansed. And it came to pass when I Daniel saw the vision, and sought the understanding: behold there stood in my sight as it were the form of a man. And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai: and he cried, and said: Gabriel make this man understand the vision.

And he came and stood near where I stood: and when he was come, trembling I fell on my face, & he said to me: Understand son of man, that in the time of the end the vision shall be accomplished. And when he spake to me I fell flat on the ground: and he touched me, and set me up in my standing, and said to me: I will shew thee what things are to come in the last of the malediction: because the time hath his end. The ram, which thou sawest have horns, is the king of the Medes and Persians.

Moreover the buckgoat, is the king of the Græcians, and the great horn, that was between his eyes, the same is the first king. But whereas that being broken, there rose up four for it: four kings shall rise up of his nation, but not in his strength. And after their reign, when iniquities shall be increased, there shall arise a king impudent of face, and understanding propositions. And his strength shall be made strong, but not in his own strength: and more than can be believed, shall he waste all things, and shall prosper, and do. And he shall kill the strong, and the people of the saints

according to his will, and craft shall be directed in his hand: and he shall magnify his heart, and in the abundance of all things he shall murder very many: & against the prince of princes shall he arise, & without hand he shall be destroyed. & the vision of the evening and the morning, which hath been said, is true: thou therefore seal the vision, because it shall be after many days.

Seventy weeks are abridged upon thy people, & upon thy holy city, that prevarication may be consummate, and sin take an end, & iniquity be abolished; and everlasting justice be brought; & vision be accomplished, and prophecy; & the Holy one of holies be anointed. Know therefore, & mark: From the going forth of the word, that Jerusalem be built again, unto Christ the prince, there shall be seven weeks, & sixty two weeks, & the street shall be built again, & the walls in straitness of the times. And after sixty two weeks Christ shall be slain: and it shall not be his people, that shall deny him. And the city, & the sanctuary shall the people dissipate with the prince to come: & the end thereof waste, & after the end of the battle the appointed desolation. And he will confirm the covenant to many, one week: and in the half of the week shall the host & the sacrifice fail: and there shall be in the temple the abomination of desolation: & even to the consummation, and to the end shall the desolation endure.

And I saw another beast coming up from the earth: and he had two horns, like to a lamb, & he spake as a dragon. And all the power of the former beast he did in his sight: and he made the earth and the inhabitants therein, to adore the first beast, whose wound of death was cured. And he did many signs, so that he made also fire to come down from heaven unto the earth in the sight of men. And he seduceth the inhabitants on the earth through the signs which were given him to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make the image of the beast which hath the stroke of the sword, and lived.

And it was given him to give spirit to the image of the beast, and that the image of the beast should speak: and should make, that whosoever shall not adore the image of the beast, be slain. And he shall make all, little & great, and rich, and poor, and free-men, and bond-men, to have a character in their right hand, or in their foreheads. And that no man may buy or sell, but he that hath the character, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. He that hath understanding, let him count the number of the beast. For it is the number of a man; and the number of him is six hundred sixty six.

And the third Angel followed them, saying with a loud voice: If any man adore the beast and his image, and receive the character in his forehead, or in his hand; he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mingled with pure wine in the cup of his wrath, and shall be tormented with fire & brimstone in the sight of the holy Angels and before the sight of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torments shall ascend for ever and ever: neither have they rest day and night, which have adored the beast, and his image, and if any man take the character of his name. Here is the patience of saints, which keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

And I heard a voice from heaven, saying to me: Write, Blessed are the dead which die in our Lord. From hence-forth now, saith the Spirit, that they rest from their labours. For their works follow them. And I saw, and behold a white cloud: and upon the cloud one sitting like to the Son of man, having on his head a crown of gold, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another Angel came forth from the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat upon the cloud: Thrust in thy sickle, and reap, because the hour is come to reap, for the harvest of the earth is dry. And he that sat upon the cloud, thrust his sickle into the earth, and the earth was reaped.

And another Angel came forth from the temple which is in heaven, himself also having a sharp sickle. And another Angel came forth from the altar, which had power over the fire: and he cried with a loud voice to him that had the sharp sickle, saying: Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vineyard of the earth: because the grapes thereof be ripe. And the Angel thrust his sharp sickle into the earth, and gathered the vineyard of the earth, & cast it into the great press of the wrath of God: and the press was trodden without the city, and blood came forth out of the press, up to the horse bridles, for a thousand six hundred furlongs.

And there came one of the seven Angels which had the seven vials, & spake with me, saying: Come, I will shew thee the damnation of the great harlot, which sitteth upon many waters. with whom the kings of the earth have fornicated, & they which inhabit the earth have been drunk of the wine of her whoredom. And he took me away in spirit into the desert. And I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads, and ten horns. And the woman was clothed round about with purple and scarlet, and gilted with gold, and precious stone, and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand, full of the abomination & filthiness of her fornication.

And in her forehead a name written, Mystery: Babylon the great, mother of the fornications and the abominations of the earth. And I saw the woman drunken of the blood of Saints, and of the blood of the Martyrs of Jesus. And I marveled when I had seen her, with great admiration. And the Angel said to me: Why doest thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads, and the ten horns. The beast which thou sawest, was, and is not, and shall come up out of the bottomless depth, and go into destruction: and the inhabitants on the earth (whose names are not written in the book of life from the making of the world) shall marvel, seeing the beast that was, and is not.

And here is understanding, that hath wisdom. The seven heads, are seven hills, upon which the woman sitteth, and they are seven kings. Five are fallen, one is, and another is not yet come: and when he shall come, he must tarry a short time. And the beast which was, and is not: the same also is the eight, and is of the seven, & goeth into destruction. And the ten horns which thou sawest, are ten kings, which have not yet received kingdom, but shall receive power as kings one hour after the beast.

These have one counsel and force: and their power they shall deliver to the beast. These shall fight with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, because he is Lord of lords, and King of kings, and they that are with him, called, and elect, and faithful. And he said to me: The waters which thou sawest where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which thou sawest in the beast: these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and her they shall burn with fire.

For God hath given into their hearts, to do that which pleaseth him: that they give their kingdom to the beast, till the words of God be consummate. And the woman which thou sawest: is the great city, which hath kingdom over the kings of the earth.

And after these things I saw another Angel coming down from heaven, having great power: and the earth was illuminated of his glory. And he cried out in force, saying: Fallen fallen is Babylon the great: and it is become the habitation of devils, and the custody of every unclean spirit, & the custody of every unclean & hateful bird: because all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication: and the kings of the earth have fornicated with her: and the merchants of the earth were made rich by the virtue of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying: Go out from her my people: that you be not partakers of her sins, and receive not of her plagues.

Because her sins are come even to heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Render to her as she also hath rendered to you: and double ye double according to her works: In the cup wherein she hath mingled, mingle ye double unto her. As much as she hath glorified herself, & hath been in delicacies, so much give her torment and mourning: because she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and widow I am not, and mourning I shall not see. Therefore in one day shall her plagues come, death, and mourning, and famine, & with fire she shall be burnt: because God is strong that shall judge her.

And the kings of the earth, which have fornicated with her, & have lived in delicacies, shall weep, and bewail themselves upon her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning: standing far off for the fear of her torments, saying: Woe, woe, that great city Babylon, that strong city: because in one hour is thy judgement come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep, & mourn upon her: because no man shall buy their merchandise any more, merchandise of gold and silver and precious stone: and of pearl, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, & scarlet and all Thyine wood, and all vessels of ivory, and all vessels of precious stone and of brass and iron and marble,

and cinnamon, and of odours, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and flour, & wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, & slaves, and souls of men. And the apples of the desire of thy soul are departed from thee, and all fat and goodly things are perished from thee, and they shall no more find them. The merchants of these things which are made rich, shall stand far from her for fear of her torments, weeping and mourning, & saying: Woe, woe, that great city, which was clothed with silk, and purple, and scarlet, and was gilted with gold, and precious stone, and pearls:

because in one hour are so great riches made desolate: and every governor, & every one that saileth into the lake, and the ship-men, and they that work in the sea, stood a far off, and cried seeing the place of her burning, saying: What other is like to this great city? And they threw dust upon their heads, and cried weeping and mourning, saying: Woe, woe, that great city, in the which all were made rich that had ships in the sea, of her prices: because in one hour she is desolate. Rejoice over her, heaven, and ye holy Apostles and Prophets: because God hath judged your judgement of her.

And one strong Angel took up as it were a great millstone, and threw it into the sea, saying: With this violence shall Babylon that great city be thrown, and shall now be found no more. And the voice of harpers, and of Musicians, and of them that sing on shalm and trumpet, shall no more be heard in thee, & every artificer of every art shall be found no more in thee, and the noise of the mill shall no more be heard in thee, and the light of the lamp shall no more shine in thee, & the voice of the bridegroom and the bride shall no more be heard in thee: because thy merchants were the princes of the earth, because all nations have erred in thine enchantments. And in her is found the blood of the Prophets and Saints, and of all that were slain in the earth.

The Lord also spoke as follows to those who did not believe in Him: “I have come in my Father’s name, and ye have not received Me: when another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive,” calling Antichrist “the other,” because he is alienated from the Lord.

This is also the unjust judge, whom the Lord mentioned as one “who feared not God, neither regarded man,” to whom the widow fled in her forgetfulness of God,—that is, the earthly Jerusalem,—to be avenged of her adversary. Which also he shall do in the time of his kingdom: he shall remove his kingdom into that [city], and shall sit in the temple of God, leading astray those who worship him, as if he were Christ.

To this purpose Daniel says again: “And he shall desolate the holy place; and sin has been given for a sacrifice, and righteousness been cast away in the earth, and he has been active (fecit), and gone on prosperously.”

And the angel Gabriel, when explaining his vision, states with regard to this person: “And towards the end of their kingdom a king of a most fierce countenance shall arise, one understanding [dark] questions, and exceedingly powerful, full of wonders; and he shall corrupt, direct, influence (faciet), and put strong men down, the holy people likewise; and his yoke shall be directed as a wreath [round their neck]; deceit shall be in his hand, and he shall be lifted up in his heart: he shall also ruin many by deceit, and lead many to perdition, bruising them in his hand like eggs.”

And then he points out the time that his tyranny shall last, during which the saints shall be put to flight, they who offer a pure sacrifice unto God: “And in the midst of the week,” he says, “the sacrifice and the libation shall be taken away, and the abomination of desolation [shall be brought] into the temple: even unto the consummation of the time shall the desolation be complete.” Now three years and six months constitute the half-week.

And for this reason the apostle says: “Because they received not the love of God, that they might be saved, therefore God shall also send them the operation of error, that they may believe a lie, that they all may be judged who have not believed the truth, but consented to unrighteousness.”

For when he (Antichrist) is come, and of his own accord concentrates in his own person the apostasy, and accomplishes whatever he shall do according to his own will and choice, sitting also in the temple of God, so that his dupes may adore him as the Christ; wherefore also shall he deservedly “be cast into the lake of fire:” [this will happen according to divine appointment], God by His prescience foreseeing all this, and at the proper time sending such a man, “that they may believe a lie, that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but consented to unrighteousness;” whose coming John has thus described in the Apocalypse:

“And the beast which I had seen was like unto a leopard, and his feet as of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion; and the dragon conferred his own power upon him, and his throne, and great might. And one of his heads was as it were slain unto death; and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon because he gave power to the beast; and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto this beast, and who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things, and blasphemy and power was given to him during forty and two months.

“And he opened his mouth for blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. And power was given him over every tribe, and people, and tongue, and nation. And all who dwell upon the earth worshipped him, [every one] whose name was not written in the book of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any one have ears, let him hear. If any one shall lead into captivity, he shall go into captivity. If any shall slay with the sword, he must be slain with the sword. Here is the endurance and the faith of the saints.”

After this he likewise describes his armour-bearer, whom he also terms a false prophet: “He spake as a dragon, and exercised all the power of the first beast in his sight, and caused the earth, and those that dwell therein, to adore the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he shall perform great wonders, so that he can even cause fire to descend from heaven upon the earth in the sight of men, and he shall lead the inhabitants of the earth astray.”

Let no one imagine that he performs these wonders by divine power, but by the working of magic. And we must not be surprised if, since the demons and apostate spirits are at his service, he through their means performs wonders, by which he leads the inhabitants of the earth astray.

John says further: “And he shall order an image of the beast to be made, and he shall give breath to the image, so that the image shall speak; and he shall cause those to be slain who will not adore it.” He says also: “And he will cause a mark [to be put] in the forehead and in the right hand, that no one may be able to buy or sell, unless he who has the mark of the name of the beast or the number of his name; and the number is six hundred and sixty-six,” that is, six times a hundred, six times ten, and six units. [He gives this] as a summing up of the whole of that apostasy which has taken place during six thousand years.

The true Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God, comes no more from the earth. If any come making false shows in the wilderness, go not forth; if they say, Lo, here is the Christ, Lo, there, believe it not. Look no longer downwards and to the earth; for the Lord descends from heaven; not alone as before, but with many, escorted by tens of thousands of Angels; nor secretly as the dew on the fleece; but shining forth openly as the lightning.

For He has said Himself, ‘As the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be;’ and again, ‘And they shall see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds with power and great glory, and He shall send forth His Angels with a great trumpet;’ and the rest.

But as, when formerly He was to take man’s nature, and God was expected to be born of a Virgin, the devil created prejudice against this, by craftily preparing among idol-worshippers fables of false gods, begetting and begotten of women, that, the falsehood having come first, the truth, as he supposed, might be disbelieved; so now, since the true Christ is to come a second time, the adversary, taking occasion by the expectation of the simple, and especially of them of the circumcision, brings in a certain man who is a magician, and most expert in sorceries and enchantments of beguiling craftiness; who shall seize for himself the power of the Roman empire, and shall falsely style himself Christ; by this name of Christ deceiving the Jews, who are looking for the Anointed, and seducing those of the Gentiles by his magical illusions.

And there is therefore in this beast, when he comes, a recapitulation made of all sorts of iniquity and of every deceit, in order that all apostate power, flowing into and being shut up in him, may be sent into the furnace of fire. Fittingly, therefore, shall his name possess the number six hundred and sixty-six, since he sums up in his own person all the commixture of wickedness which took place previous to the deluge, due to the apostasy of the angels.

For Noah was six hundred years old when the deluge came upon the earth, sweeping away the rebellious world, for the sake of that most infamous generation which lived in the times of Noah. And [Antichrist] also sums up every error of devised idols since the flood, together with the slaying of the prophets and the cutting off of the just.

For that image which was set up by Nebuchadnezzar had indeed a height of sixty cubits, while the breadth was six cubits; on account of which Ananias, Azarias, and Misaël, when they did not worship it, were cast into a furnace of fire, pointing out prophetically, by what happened to them, the wrath against the righteous which shall arise towards the [time of the] end.

For that image, taken as a whole, was a prefiguring of this man’s coming, decreeing that he should undoubtedly himself alone be worshipped by all men.

Thus, then, the six hundred years of Noah, in whose time the deluge occurred because of the apostasy, and the number of the cubits of the image for which these just men were sent into the fiery furnace, do indicate the number of the name of that man in whom is concentrated the whole apostasy of six thousand years, and unrighteousness, and wickedness, and false prophecy, and deception; for which things’ sake a cataclysm of fire shall also come [upon the earth].

Now, as our Lord Jesus Christ, who is also God, was prophesied of under the figure of a lion, on account of His royalty and glory, in the same way have the Scriptures also aforetime spoken of Antichrist as a lion, on account of his tyranny and violence. For the deceiver seeks to liken himself in all things to the Son of God. Christ is a lion, so Antichrist is also a lion; Christ is a king, so Antichrist is also a king. The Saviour was manifested as a lamb; so he too, in like manner, will appear as a lamb, though within he is a wolf. The Saviour came into the world in the circumcision, and he will come in the same manner. The Lord sent apostles among all the nations, and he in like manner will send false apostles. The Saviour gathered together the sheep that were scattered abroad, and he in like manner will bring together a people that is scattered abroad. The Lord gave a seal to those who believed on Him, and he will give one in like manner. The Saviour appeared in the form of man, and he too will come in the form of a man. The Saviour raised up and showed His holy flesh like a temple, and he will raise a temple of stone in Jerusalem. And his seductive arts we shall exhibit in what follows. But for the present let us turn to the question in hand.

By the beast, then, coming up out of the earth, he means the kingdom of Antichrist; and by the two horns he means him and the false prophet after him. And in speaking of ‘the horns being like a lamb,’ he means that he will make himself like the Son of God, and set himself forward as king. And the terms, ‘he spoke like a dragon,’ mean that he is a deceiver, and not truthful.

And the words, ‘he exercised all the power of the first beast before him, and caused the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed,’ signify that, after the manner of the law of Augustus, by whom the empire of Rome was established, he too will rule and govern, sanctioning everything by it, and taking greater glory to himself.

For this is the fourth beast, whose head was wounded and healed again, in its being broken up or even dishonoured, and partitioned into four crowns; and he then (Antichrist) shall with knavish skill heal it, as it were, and restore it.

For this is what is meant by the prophet when he says, ‘He will give life unto the image, and the image of the beast will speak.’ For he will act with vigour again, and prove strong by reason of the laws established by him; and he will cause all those who will not worship the image of the beast to be put to death.

Here the faith and the patience of the saints will appear, for he says: ‘And he will cause all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their forehead; that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, the name of the beast, or the number of his name.’ For, being full of guile, and exalting himself against the servants of God, with the wish to afflict them and persecute them out of the world, because they give not glory to him, he will order incense-pans to be set up by all everywhere, that no man among the saints may be able to buy or sell without first sacrificing; for this is what is meant by the mark received upon the right hand.

And the word—‘in their forehead’—indicates that all are crowned, and put on a crown of fire, and not of life, but of death. For in this wise, too, did Antiochus Epiphanes the king of Syria, the descendant of Alexander of Macedon, devise measures against the Jews.

He, too, in the exaltation of his heart, issued a decree in those times, that ‘all should set up shrines before their doors, and sacrifice, and that they should march in procession to the honour of Dionysus, waving chaplets of ivy;’ and that those who refused obedience should be put to death by strangulation and torture. But he also met his due recompense at the hand of the Lord, the righteous Judge and all-searching God; for he died eaten up of worms.

And if one desires to inquire into that more accurately, he will find it recorded in the books of the Maccabees.

‘His number is the name of a man, and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.’ As they have it reckoned from the Greek characters, they thus find it among many to be τειταν, for τειταν has this number, which the Gentiles call Sol and Phœbus; and it is reckoned in Greek thus: τ three hundred, ε five, ι ten, τ three hundred, α one, ν fifty—which taken together become six hundred and sixty-six.

For as far as belongs to the Greek letters, they fill up this number and name; which name if you wish to turn into Latin, it is understood by the antiphrase DICLUX, which letters are reckoned in this manner: since D figures five hundred, I one, C a hundred, L fifty, V five, X ten—which by the reckoning up of the letters makes similarly six hundred and sixty-six, that is, what in Greek gives τειταν, to wit, what in Latin is called DICLUX; by which name, expressed by antiphrases, we understand Antichrist, who, although he be cut off from the supernal light, and deprived thereof, yet transforms himself into an angel of light, daring to call himself light.

Moreover, we find in a certain Greek codex αντεμος, which letters being reckoned up, you will find to give the number as above: α one, ν fifty, τ three hundred, ε five, μ forty, ο seventy, ς two hundred—which together makes six hundred and sixty-six, according to the Greeks.

Moreover, there is another name in Gothic of him, which will be evident of itself, that is, γενσήρικος, which in the same way you will reckon in Greek letters: γ three, ε five, ν fifty, σ two hundred, η eight, ρ a hundred, ι ten, κ twenty, ο seventy, ς also two hundred, which, as has been said above, make six hundred and sixty-six.

‘And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth.’ He is speaking of the great and false prophet who is to do signs, and portents, and falsehoods before him in the presence of men.

‘And he had two horns like a lamb’—that is, the appearance within of a man—‘and he spoke like a dragon.’ But the devil speaks full of malice; for he shall do these things in the presence of men, so that even the dead appear to rise again.

‘And he shall make fire come down from heaven in the sight of men.’ Yes (as I also have said), in the sight of men. Magicians do these things, by the aid of the apostate angels, even to this day. He shall cause also that a golden image of Antichrist shall be placed in the temple at Jerusalem, and that the apostate angel should enter, and thence utter voices and oracles.

Moreover, he himself shall contrive that his servants and children should receive as a mark on their foreheads, or on their right hands, the number of his name, lest any one should buy or sell them. Daniel had previously predicted his contempt and provocation of God.

‘And he shall place,’ says he, ‘his temple within Samaria, upon the illustrious and holy mountain that is at Jerusalem, an image such as Nebuchadnezzar had made.’ Thence here he places, and by and by here he renews, that of which the Lord, admonishing His churches concerning the last times and their dangers, says: ‘But when you shall see the contempt which is spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place, let him who reads understand.’ It is called a contempt when God is provoked, because idols are worshipped instead of God, or when the dogma of heretics is introduced in the churches.

But it is a turning away because steadfast men, seduced by false signs and portents, are turned away from their salvation.

It should be known that the Antichrist is bound to come. Every one, therefore, who confesses not that the Son of God came in the flesh and is perfect God and became perfect man, after being God, is Antichrist. But in a peculiar and special sense he who comes at the consummation of the age is called Antichrist.

First, then, it is requisite that the Gospel should be preached among all nations, as the Lord said, and then he will come to refute the impious Jews. For the Lord said to them: I have come in My Father’s name and you receive Me not: if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive.

And the apostle says, Because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved, for this cause God shall send them a strong delusion that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. The Jews accordingly did not receive the Lord Jesus Christ who was the Son of God and God, but receive the impostor who calls himself God.

For that he will assume the name of God, the angel teaches Daniel, saying these words, Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers.

And the apostle says: Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition: who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God; in the temple of God he said; not our temple, but the old Jewish temple.

For he will come not to us but to the Jews: not for Christ or the things of Christ: wherefore he is called Antichrist.

First, therefore, it is necessary that the Gospel should be preached among all nations: And then shall that wicked one be revealed, even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, whom the Lord shall consume with the word of His mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming.

The devil himself, therefore, does not become man in the way that the Lord was made man. God forbid! But he becomes man as the offspring of fornication and receives all the energy of Satan. For God, foreknowing the strangeness of the choice that he would make, allows the devil to take up his abode in him.

He is, therefore, as we said, the offspring of fornication and is nurtured in secret, and on a sudden he rises up and rebels and assumes rule. And in the beginning of his rule, or rather tyranny, he assumes the role of sanctity. But when he becomes master he persecutes the Church of God and displays all his wickedness.

But he will come with signs and lying wonders, fictitious and not real, and he will deceive and lead away from the living God those whose mind rests on an unsound and unstable foundation, so that even the elect shall, if it be possible, be made to stumble.

But Enoch and Elias the Thesbite shall be sent and shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, that is, the synagogue to our Lord Jesus Christ and the preaching of the apostles: and they will be destroyed by him. And the Lord shall come out of heaven, just as the holy apostles beheld Him going into heaven, perfect God and perfect man, with glory and power, and will destroy the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction, with the breath of His mouth.

Let no one, therefore, look for the Lord to come from earth, but out of Heaven, as He himself has made sure.

But this aforesaid Antichrist is to come when the times of the Roman empire shall have been fulfilled, and the end of the world is now drawing near. There shall rise up together ten kings of the Romans, reigning in different parts perhaps, but all about the same time; and after these an eleventh, the Antichrist, who by his magical craft shall seize upon the Roman power; and of the kings who reigned before him, three he shall humble, and the remaining seven he shall keep in subjection to himself. At first indeed he will put on a show of mildness (as though he were a learned and discreet person), and of soberness and benevolence: and by the lying signs and wonders of his magical deceit having beguiled the Jews, as though he were the expected Christ, he shall afterwards be characterized by all kinds of crimes of inhumanity and lawlessness, so as to outdo all unrighteous and ungodly men who have gone before him; displaying against all men, but especially against us Christians, a spirit murderous and most cruel, merciless and crafty. And after perpetrating such things for three years and six months only, he shall be destroyed by the glorious second advent from heaven of the only-begotten Son of God, our Lord and Saviour Jesus, the true Christ, who shall slay Antichrist with the breath of His mouth, and shall deliver him over to the fire of hell.

But we may also understand by the abomination of desolation, any bad doctrine; and when we see such a thing get a standing in the Holy Place—that is, in the Church—and showing itself that it is God—that is, pretending that it is His revealed truth—then will be the time when it will be our duty to flee from Judea into the mountains—that is to say, to leave the letter, which passeth away, and all guise of Jewish superstition, and to hie us unto the everlasting hills, from whence God doth right wondrously cause His light to shine forth. Then will it be our duty to find ourselves under a roof and in an house, wherethrough the fiery darts of the wicked one can never pierce to smite us, and not to come down to take anything out of the house of our old conversation, or to have regard unto those things which are behind; but rather to sow in the field of the spiritual Scriptures, that we may reap thereof a bountiful harvest; neither to have two coats, that thing forbidden to Apostles.

Behold the hypocrisy of those is now plainly described, whose preaching is compared to lamps of torches. For when a torch is lighted, it has a sweet scent, but a dismal light. And so because these preachers of Antichrist claim to themselves a show of sanctity, but yet practise works of iniquity, the smell, as it were, which they emit is pleasant, but the light they give is dark. For they smell sweetly through their pretence of righteousness, but burn gloomily by their perpetration of iniquity. The malice of their hypocrisy John sums up in a brief description in the Apocalypse, saying; I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth, having two horns like a lamb’s, and he spake as a dragon. He had spoken indeed of the first beast, that is, Antichrist, in a former description; after whom this other beast is said to have also come up, because the multitude of his preachers after him boasts in his earthly power. For to come up from the earth is to boast in earthly glory. And it has two horns like a lamb, because, through his pretended sanctity, he falsely asserts that that wisdom and conduct exist in him, which the Lord truly possessed in Himself in a special manner. But because under the appearance of a lamb he infuses into his reprobate hearers the poison of serpents, it is there rightly subjoined; And he spake as a dragon. If this beast therefore, that is, the multitude of preachers, were to speak openly as a dragon, he would not appear like a lamb. But he assumes the appearance of a lamb, in order to perform the works of a dragon. Both of which points are here expressed by lamps of torches; because they both burn mistily by their malicious doings, and smell, as it were, sweetly, by the hypocrisy of their life.

But we must not suppose that the preachers of Antichrist will appear then only, and that now they take no part in the deception of men. For even now, before he appears himself, some preach him in words, but most by their conduct. Are not they the preachers of his hypocrisy, who while they hold the holy orders of God, grasp with all their desires the fleeting world, who profess that all their doings are virtues, but every thing they do is sin? But the more the mind of the Elect keeps close to the light, the more keenly does it see how it should distinguish virtues from vices. But what wonder is it that we do that spiritually, which we see money-changers daily performing in the body? Who, when they receive a coin, examine first its quality, afterwards its shape, but last of all, its weight, lest either brass should be concealed under the appearance of gold, or lest the shape of counterfeit coin should disgrace that which is truly gold, or lest deficient weight should prove that to be light, which is both gold, and of the proper shape. When therefore we behold the wonderful works of men whom we know not, we ought, as skilful money-changers, to betake ourselves to the scales of our heart, in order for our judgment first to weigh the gold, lest sin should conceal itself under the cloak of virtue, and lest that which is done with evil intention should be veiled under the appearance of what is right. And if the character of its intention is approved, we must next look for the shape of the stamp which has been impressed on it, whether it is stamped by approved moneyers, that is, by the ancient fathers, and is not distorted, by any error, from a resemblance to their life. But when both its quality is ascertained by its intention, and its right shape by a model, it remains for us to examine its full weight. For if a good deed which is brilliant with signs and miracles, possesses not the full amount of perfection, it ought to be anxiously considered with careful circumspection, lest an imperfect thing, when taken for a perfect one, should turn to the loss of the receiver. How then do the preachers of Antichrist, who know not in what they do the power of right intention, possess the quality of a true coin? For they seek not thereby their heavenly country, but the height of temporal glory. How do they, who, by persecuting the just, disagree with all the piety of the just, differ not from the shape of a true coin?

Because then our Redeemer rules the hearts of the humble, and this Leviathan is called the king of the proud, we know plainly, that pride is a most evident token of the reprobate, but humility, on the contrary, of the Elect. When it is known then which any one possesses, it is found out under what king he is fighting. For every one bears as it were a kind of inscription in his work, to shew thereby easily under the power of what ruler he is serving. Whence it is also said by the Gospel; Ye shall know them by their fruits. Lest then the members of this Leviathan should deceive us by performing even wonders, the Lord has pointed out a plain token by which they can be detected, saying; He is a king over all the children of pride. For though they sometimes assume a pretended appearance of humility, yet they cannot conceal themselves in every point. For since then pride cannot bear to be long concealed, when it is concealed by one action it is exposed by another. But they who war under the king of humility, ever fearful, and circumspect on every side, fight against the darts of pride, and specially guard, as it were, the eye only of their body against the coming blows, when in themselves they principally defend their humility.

For ointments when they boil give forth the fragrance of sweetness. Because then this Leviathan will so seduce the hearts of the reprobate, that, whatever they do from the wickedness of unbelief, they imagine they are doing it for the truth of the right faith, that which they do with zeal for religion, smells, as it were, sweetly to them. Whence the Truth says to His disciples in the Gospel; That every one that killeth you, will think that he doeth God service. They, therefore, boil as a pot, while they cruelly persecute: but this very persecution smells, to their sense, with the fragrance of ointments, when their mind, deceived by vain imaginations, thinks that it is doing God service. For in Holy Scripture by the sweet smell of ointments is usually signified an opinion of virtues. Whence the Bride in the Song of Songs, longing for the Bridegroom, says, We run in the odour of Thy ointments. And hence the Apostle Paul, knowing that he was fragrant with the praise of virtues, says, We are unto God a sweet savour of Christ. Because, therefore this Leviathan involves the ministers of that accursed vessel of his in deeds of cruelty, under the notions of praise, and the pretext of virtue, after He had said, He will make the deep sea to boil as a pot: He immediately rightly adds, He will make it as when ointments boil. For the sea which boils with the fire of cruelty, He shews to boil as ointments, in the judgment of those same persons, who are excited by the feigned name of virtue; in order that they may become more atrocious in their cruelty, the more they believe that they even deserve rewards for their zeal for religion. And in the Divine judgment it is just that they, who neglect to consider and guard the power of piety, should be deceived by the odour of their own fancy. Whence, to increase the illusion, signs also and prodigies attend them when committing their cruelties, as it is also rightly subjoined; A path will shine after him.

For a ‘path’ is said to shine after Leviathan, because wherever he passes along, he leaves behind him great astonishment from the brightness of his miracles, and wherever he goes forth, either by himself or by his ministers, he glitters with lying wonders. Whence the Truth says in the Gospel, that which we have already frequently quoted; There will arise false Christs, and false prophets, and will give signs and wonders, so as even for the Elect, if possible, to be led into error. A path, therefore, shines after Leviathan, because he enlightens by prodigies the deeds of those, whose hearts he penetrates; in order, doubtless, to keep their minds more deeply involved in the darkness of error, the more powerfully he displays, as it were, by their means the light of miracles without.

Jezebel. In thy work indeed, and thy faith, thou art to be praised. But in this thou art to be blamed, that thou dost not confute with proper energy the synagogue of false Apostles, which pretends to be Christian. The name Jezebel, which implies ‘an issue of blood,’ belongs to heretics; and in particular, she is conjectured to be a woman in the aforenamed church, who teaches the evil deeds which have been mentioned, who was to be a figure of the Jezebel throughout the world, whom also he manifestly threatens with vengeance.

seduce. Under the name of Christ forsooth, she taught spiritual fornication and idolatry, for how could she openly teach the worship of idols, when she said that she was a prophetess in the Church.

horns. He shews the horns of a lamb, that he may secretly introduce the poison of the dragon. For by the false assumption of sanctity, which the Lord truly had in Himself, he pretends that a matchless life and wisdom are his. Of this beast the Lord says, ‘Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.’

worship. That is, who shall have worshipped the beast, and the head, which was, as it were, slain.

mark. By saying, ‘on his forehead, or on his hand,’ he shews that the devil marks some by an unholy profession, but others by practice alone.

drink. In that he says, ‘he also shall drink,’ he shews that there is another also who has drunk, so as not to exclude him who, although he is not visibly mingled with the nations, yet worships the beast under the name of Christ. But they are justly laid low by the cup of the Lord, who give to drink the cup of the wrath of fornication, not, according to Jeremiah, that they may vomit forth the malice of a heart which is to be cleansed, but that they may be condemned, and perish by falling asleep in eternal death.

fire. He preferred the miracle of fire, as if the greatest, to all others, that, as the Lord Christ had given to His disciples the gift of divers miracles by the Holy Ghost, Who came in fire, so he with deceitful craft might delude his own, as it were, by a similar gift.

seduces. ‘His coming will be,’ as is said, ‘after the working of Satan in all power, and signs, and prodigies of falsehood.’ And there is wont to be a question, whether these are called ‘signs and prodigies of falsehood,’ because he is to deceive the senses of men by phantasms, so as to seem to do what he does not; or because these very things, even if they shall be true prodigies, will lead to falsehood those who shall believe, that they could only have been wrought by divine influence, being ignorant of the power of the devil. For it was not by a fantastical, but a true fire and whirlwind that he destroyed so great a household as that of the holy Job, with so great flocks. But whether they are called ‘prodigies of falsehood’ in this way or that, it is in this that the temptation will appear to be greater than all the rest, that when the pious martyr submits his body to torments he too at the same time performs so many miracles before his eyes.

image. That is, that they should be like him, and make an image for him, ‘as he has the wound from the sword and lives,’ as another version expresses it. This is that they say so falsely, that they have been dead and have risen again with Antichrist, as to imply that he too makes God a mediator between himself and his own, whereas he has not like our Lord Jesus Christ another one, between whom and himself he may be a mediator.

breath. That is, by making himself an image of the beast, he pretended that he gave the spirit of truth to the very people in whom the falsehood was fulfilled.

speak. Not only will he delude the wretched multitude by counterfeiting the spirit with fire, but he will also make it of use for teaching others.

frogs. The spirit of the devil, and of Antichrist, and of those who are set over his body, which is spoken of as threefold, according to the number of the parts of a body, is compared with frogs, to creatures, that is, which are horrible in their haunts, their appearance, and their vexatious croaking, which although they seem to be inhabitants of the waters, yet move about in filth and mud. For hypocrites indeed, while they promise their own the water of life, lie dead and hidden beneath the filth which believers deposit in the water. So Pharaoh, who to destroy the people at their Baptism went in after them, was therein slain.

demons. For as was done by the magicians of Pharaoh, so is it to be supposed that these will perform signs. And not without reason did he remember these, when he had made mention of frogs, but that he might announce that the ministers of Satan would then also perform similar signs. For the magicians were permitted to prevail by their enchantments as far as the sign of frogs.

kings. As there are holy kings to whom, when the Euphrates is dried, the way of the East is laid open; so also are there said to be evil kings of the earth, who, without being gathered together from the whole world into one place, but each nation in its place, are to fight against the saints. By ‘the great day of the Lord,’ he means the whole time from the Lord’s Passion. ‘The day’ may also be taken to be the day of judgment, when the army of the devil, which has been gathered together through the whole time of the present life, will meet the Lord, the King, that it may be overthrown.

Objection 1. It would seem that the demons cannot lead men astray by means of real miracles. For the activity of the demons will show itself especially in the works of Antichrist. But as the Apostle says (2 Thessalonians 2:9), his ‘coming is according to the working of Satan, in all power, and signs, and lying wonders.’ Much more therefore at other times do the demons perform lying wonders.

Objection 2. Further, true miracles are wrought by some corporeal change. But demons are unable to change the nature of a body; for Augustine says (De Civ. Dei xviii, 18): ‘I cannot believe that the human body can receive the limbs of a beast by means of a demon’s art or power.’ Therefore the demons cannot work real miracles.

Objection 3. Further, an argument is useless which may prove both ways. If therefore real miracles can be wrought by demons, to persuade one of what is false, they will be useless to confirm the teaching of the faith. This is unfitting; for it is written (Mark 16:20): ‘The Lord working withal, and confirming the word with signs that followed.’

On the contrary, Augustine says (QQ. 83, qu. 79): ‘Often by means of the magic art miracles are wrought like those which are wrought by the servants of God.’

I answer that, As is clear from what has been said above, if we take a miracle in the strict sense, the demons cannot work miracles, nor can any creature, but God alone: since in the strict sense a miracle is something done outside the order of the entire created nature, under which order every power of a creature is contained. But sometimes miracle may be taken in a wide sense, for whatever exceeds the human power and experience.

And thus demons can work miracles, that is, things which rouse man’s astonishment, by reason of their being beyond his power and outside his sphere of knowledge. For even a man by doing what is beyond the power and knowledge of another, leads him to marvel at what he has done, so that in a way he seems to that man to have worked a miracle.

It is to be noted, however, that although these works of demons which appear marvelous to us are not real miracles, they are sometimes nevertheless something real. Thus the magicians of Pharaoh by the demons’ power produced real serpents and frogs. And ‘when fire came down from heaven and at one blow consumed Job’s servants and sheep; when the storm struck down his house and with it his children—these were the work of Satan, not phantoms’; as Augustine says (De Civ. Dei xx, 19).

Reply to Objection 1. As Augustine says in the same place, the works of Antichrist may be called lying wonders, ‘either because he will deceive men’s senses by means of phantoms, so that he will not really do what he will seem to do; or because, if he work real prodigies, they will lead those into falsehood who believe in him.’

Reply to Objection 2. As we have said above, corporeal matter does not obey either good or bad angels at their will, so that demons be able by their power to transmute matter from one form to another; but they can employ certain seeds that exist in the elements of the world, in order to produce these effects, as Augustine says (De Trin. iii, 8,9).

Therefore it must be admitted that all the transformation of corporeal things which can be produced by certain natural powers, to which we must assign the seeds above mentioned, can alike be produced by the operation of the demons, by the employment of these seeds; such as the transformation of certain things into serpents or frogs, which can be produced by putrefaction.

On the contrary, those transformations which cannot be produced by the power of nature, cannot in reality be effected by the operation of the demons; for instance, that the human body be changed into the body of a beast, or that the body of a dead man return to life. And if at times something of this sort seems to be effected by the operation of demons, it is not real but a mere semblance of reality.

Now this may happen in two ways.

Firstly, from within; in this way a demon can work on man’s imagination and even on his corporeal senses, so that something seems otherwise that it is, as explained above. It is said indeed that this can be done sometimes by the power of certain bodies.

Secondly, from without: for just as he can from the air form a body of any form and shape, and assume it so as to appear in it visibly: so, in the same way he can clothe any corporeal thing with any corporeal form, so as to appear therein. This is what Augustine says (De Civ. Dei xviii, 18): ‘Man’s imagination, which whether thinking or dreaming, takes the forms of an innumerable number of things, appears to other men’s senses, as it were embodied in the semblance of some animal.’ This not to be understood as though the imagination itself or the images formed therein were identified with that which appears embodied to the senses of another man: but that the demon, who forms an image in a man’s imagination, can offer the same picture to another man’s senses.

Reply to Objection 3. As Augustine says (QQ. 83, qu. 79): ‘When magicians do what holy men do, they do it for a different end and by a different right. The former do it for their own glory; the latter, for the glory of God: the former, by certain private compacts; the latter by the evident assistance and command of God, to Whom every creature is subject.’

And Jared lived an hundred sixty two years, and begat Enoch. And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Jared came to nine hundred sixty two years, and he died. Moreover Enoch lived sixty five years, and begat Mathusala.

And Enoch walked with God: and lived after he begat Mathusala, three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Enoch came to three hundred sixty five years. And he walked with God, and was seen no more: because God took him.

Henoch pleased God, and was translated into paradise, that he may give repentance to the nations.

No man hath been born in the earth like to Henoch: for he also was taken up from the earth.

And it came to pass, when our Lord would take up Elias by a hurl wind into heaven, Elias and Eliseus went from Galgal. And Elias said to Eliseus: Sit here, because our Lord hath sent me as far as Bethel. To whom Eliseus said: Our Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And when he was come down to Bethel, the children of the prophets, that were in Bethel, went forth to Eliseus, and said to him: Doest thou know, that this day our Lord will take thy master from thee? Who answered: I also know it: hold your peace. And Elias said to Eliseus: Sit here, because our Lord hath sent me into Jericho. And he said: Our Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And when they were come to Jericho,

the children of the Prophets, that were in Jericho, came to Eliseus, and said to him: Doest thou know that this day our Lord will take away thy master from thee? And he said: I also know it, hold your peace. And Elias said to him: Sit here, because our Lord hath sent me as far as Jordan. Who said: Our Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee: They went therefore both together, and fifty men of the children of the Prophets followed them, who also stood over against them, far off: but they two stood upon Jordan. And Elias took his mantle, and folded it together, and smote the waters, which were divided into two parts, and they both passed over by the dry land.

And when they were over, Elias said to Eliseus: Ask what thou wilt have me do for thee, before I be taken from thee. And Eliseus said: I beseech thee that in me may be thy double spirit. Who answered: Thou hast asked a hard thing: Nevertheless if thou see me when I shall be taken from thee, thou shalt have that thou hast asked: but if thou see me not, thou shalt not have it. And when they went forward, and going talked together, behold a fiery chariot, and fiery horses parted them two asunder: and Elias ascended by a hurl wind into heaven. And Eliseus saw him, and cried: My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the guider thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took his garments, and rent them in two pieces.

And he took up the mantle of Elias, that was fallen to him: and returning he stood upon the bank of Jordan, and with the mantle of Elias, that fell down to him, he smote the waters, and they were not divided. And he said: Where is the God of Elias, now also? And he smote the waters, and they were divided this way and that way, and Eliseus passed over. And the children of the prophets, that were in Jericho, over against him seeing him, said: The spirit of Elias hath rested upon Eliseus. And coming to meet him, adored him flat to the ground,

And there arose Elias the prophet, as it were fire, and his word burnt as a little torch. Who brought famine upon them, and they provoking him in their envy were made few, for they could not abide the precepts of our Lord. By the word of our Lord he stayed heaven, and he brought down fire from heaven thrice. So was Elias magnified in his marvelous works. And who can so glory like unto thee?

Who didst raise up the dead from hell, from the lot of death, in the word of our Lord God. Who didst cast down kings to destruction, and didst easily break their might, and the glorious from their bed. Who hearest judgement in Sina, and in Horeb judgements of defence. Who anointest kings to repentance, and makest Prophets successors after thee.

Who wast received in a whirlwind of fire, in a chariot of fiery horses. Who art written in the judgements of times, to appease the wrath of our Lord, to reconcile the heart of the father to the son, and to restore the tribes of Jacob. Blessed are they that saw thee, and were honoured in thy friendship. For we live by life only, but after death our name shall not be such.

Elias was indeed hid in the whirlwind, & his spirit was complete in Eliseus: in his days he feared not the Prince, and no man overcame him by might.

For behold the day shall come kindled as a furnace: and all the proud, and all that do impiety shall be stubble: & the day coming shall inflame them, saith the Lord of hosts, which shall not leave them root, and spring. And there shall rise to you that fear my name the Sun of justice, and health in his wings: and you shall go forth, and shall leap as calves of the herd. And you shall tread the impious, when they shall be ashes under the sole of your feet in the day, that I do, saith the Lord of hosts. Remember ye the law of Moyses my servant, which I commanded him in Horeb to all Israel precepts, and judgements.

Behold I will send you Elias the Prophet, before the day of our Lord come great and dreadful. And he shall convert the heart of the fathers to the children, & the heart of the children to their fathers: lest perhaps I come, and strike the earth with anathema.

And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and it was said to me: Arise, and measure the Temple of God, and the altar, and them that adore in it. But the court which is without the Temple, cast forth, & measure not that: because it is given to the Gentiles, and they shall tread under-foot the holy city two & forty months: and I will give to my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed with sack-cloths. These are the two olive trees & the two Candlesticks that stand in the sight of the Lord of the earth.

And if any man will hurt them, fire shall come forth out of their mouths, and shall devour their enemies. And if any man will hurt them, so must he be slain. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with all plague as often as they will. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast which ascended from the depth, shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their bodies shall lie in the streets of the great city, which is called spiritually Sodom and Ægypt, where their Lord also was crucified.

And there shall of tribes, and peoples, and tongues, and Gentiles, see their bodies for three days, and a half: and they shall not suffer their bodies to be laid in monuments. And the inhabitants of the earth shall be glad upon them, and make merry: and shall send gifts one to another, because these two Prophets tormented them that dwelt upon the earth. And after three days and a half, the spirit of life from God entered into them. And they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them that saw them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them: Come up hither. And they went up into heaven in a cloud: and their enemies saw them.

And in that hour there was made a great earth-quake: and the tenth part of the city fell: and there were slain in the earth-quake names of men seven thousand: and the rest were cast into a fear, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

But since the Saviour was the beginning of the resurrection of all men, it was meet that the Lord alone should rise from the dead, by whom too the judgment is to enter for the whole world, that they who have wrestled worthily may be also crowned worthily by Him, by the illustrious Arbiter, to wit, who Himself first accomplished the course, and was received into the heavens, and was set down on the right hand of God the Father, and is to be manifested again at the end of the world as Judge.

It is a matter of course that His forerunners must appear first, as He says by Malachi and the angel, “I will send to you Elias the Tishbite before the day of the Lord, the great and notable day, comes; and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, lest I come and smite the earth utterly.” These, then, shall come and proclaim the manifestation of Christ that is to be from heaven; and they shall also perform signs and wonders, in order that men may be put to shame and turned to repentance for their surpassing wickedness and impiety.

For John says, “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.” That is the half of the week whereof Daniel spoke. “These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the Lord of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire will proceed out of their mouth, and devour their enemies; and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy; and have power over waters, to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will. And when they shall have finished their course and their testimony,” what says the prophet? “the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them,” because they will not give glory to Antichrist.

For this is meant by the little horn that grows up. He, being now elated in heart, begins to exalt himself, and to glorify himself as God, persecuting the saints and blaspheming Christ, even as Daniel says, “I considered the horn, and, behold, in the horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things; and he opened his mouth to blaspheme God.

And that horn made war against the saints, and prevailed against them until the beast was slain, and perished, and his body was given to be burned.”

“They shall tread the holy city down for forty and two months; and I will give to my two witnesses, and they shall predict a thousand two hundred and threescore days clothed in sackcloth.” That is, three years and six months: these make forty-two months. Therefore their preaching is three years and six months, and the kingdom of Antichrist as much again.

“If any man will hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth, and devours their enemies.” That fire proceeds out of the mouth of those prophets against the adversaries, bespeaks the power of the world. For all afflictions, however many there are, shall be sent by their messengers in their word. Many think that there is Elisha, or Moses, with Elijah; but both of these died; while the death of Elijah is not heard of, with whom all our ancients have believed that it was Jeremiah.

For even the very word spoken to him testifies to him, saying: “Before I formed you in the belly I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet unto the nations.” But he was not a prophet unto the nations; and thus the truthful word of God makes it necessary, which it has promised to set forth, that he should be a prophet to the nations.

“These are the two candlesticks standing before the Lord of the earth.” These two candlesticks and two olive trees He has to this end spoken of, and admonished you that if, when you have read of them elsewhere, you have not understood, you may understand here. For in Zechariah, one of the twelve prophets, it is thus written: “These are the two olive trees and two candlesticks which stand in the presence of the Lord of the earth;” that is, they are in paradise.

Also, in another sense, standing in the presence of the lord of the earth, that is, in the presence of Antichrist. Therefore they must be slain by Antichrist.

After admonishing them to give heed to the law of Moses, as he foresaw that for a long time to come they would not understand it spiritually and rightly, he went on to say, ‘And, behold, I will send to you Elias the Tishbite before the great and signal day of the Lord come: and he shall turn the heart of the father to the son, and the heart of a man to his next of kin, lest I come and utterly smite the earth.’ It is a familiar theme in the conversation and heart of the faithful, that in the last days before the judgment the Jews shall believe in the true Christ, that is, our Christ, by means of this great and admirable prophet Elias who shall expound the law to them.

For not without reason do we hope that before the coming of our Judge and Saviour Elias shall come, because we have good reason to believe that he is now alive; for, as Scripture most distinctly informs us, he was taken up from this life in a chariot of fire.

When, therefore, he has come, he shall give a spiritual explanation of the law which the Jews at present understand carnally, and shall thus ‘turn the heart of the father to the son,’ that is, the heart of fathers to their children; for the Septuagint translators have frequently put the singular for the plural number. And the meaning is, that the sons, that is, the Jews, shall understand the law as the fathers, that is, the prophets, and among them Moses himself, understood it.

For the heart of the fathers shall be turned to their children when the children understand the law as their fathers did; and the heart of the children shall be turned to their fathers when they have the same sentiments as the fathers. The Septuagint used the expression, ‘and the heart of a man to his next of kin,’ because fathers and children are eminently neighbors to one another.

Another and a preferable sense can be found in the words of the Septuagint translators, who have translated Scripture with an eye to prophecy, the sense, viz., that Elias shall turn the heart of God the Father to the Son, not certainly as if he should bring about this love of the Father for the Son, but meaning that he should make it known, and that the Jews also, who had previously hated, should then love the Son who is our Christ.

For so far as regards the Jews, God has His heart turned away from our Christ, this being their conception about God and Christ. But in their case the heart of God shall be turned to the Son when they themselves shall turn in heart, and learn the love of the Father towards the Son.

The words following, ‘and the heart of a man to his next of kin,’—that is, Elias shall also turn the heart of a man to his next of kin—how can we understand this better than as the heart of a man to the man Christ? For though in the form of God He is our God, yet, taking the form of a servant, He condescended to become also our next of kin. It is this, then, which Elias will do, ‘lest,’ he says, ‘I come and smite the earth utterly.’ For they who mind earthly things are the earth.

Such are the carnal Jews until this day; and hence these murmurs of theirs against God, ‘The wicked are pleasing to Him,’ and ‘It is a vain thing to serve God.’

Let us open the eyes of faith, and contemplate that last banquet of Holy Church at the reception of the people of Israel. To which banquet that mighty Elias who is coming is engaged as the inviter of the guests. Then do neighbours, then do friends, come with gifts to Him, Whom they despised but a little before when exposed to the scourge. For as the day of judgment draws near, either by the words of His forerunner, or by certain signs which burst forth, does the might of the approaching Lord shine out in a measure before them. And while they hasten to prevent His wrath, they forward the time of their own conversion. But when converted they come with gifts, because by offering their virtuous deeds, they then reverence Him, Whom but a little before they derided in His Passion. Doubtless by this their oblation fulfilling that which we behold already made good in great measure, and which we believe is still to be made good in its fulness; The daughters of Tyre shall adore Him with gifts. For then do the daughters of Tyre more fully adore Him with gifts, when the minds of the Israelites, which are now overcome by the desires of this world, bring to Him, Whom they proudly denied, when known at last, the offerings of their confession. And although at these very times, at which Antichrist draws near, the conduct of the faithful seems to be to a certain extent less virtuous, although in the contest with that ruined man, mighty fear constrains the hearts even of the strong; yet not only do all the faithful, strengthened by the preaching of Elias, remain in the firmness of Holy Church, but, as we said before, many also of the unbelievers are converted to the knowledge of the faith. So that the remnants of the nation of Israel, which had before been utterly rejected, crowd together to the bosom of the Church their Mother with the most pious devotion. Whence it is now well subjoined, But the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning.

But I will more plainly set forth the manner in which this happens.

When the close of the times draws nigh, a great prophet shall be sent from God to turn men to the knowledge of God, and he shall receive the power of doing wonderful things. Wherever men shall not hear him, he will shut up the heaven, and cause it to withhold its rains; he will turn their water into blood, and torment them with thirst and hunger; and if any one shall endeavour to injure him, fire shall come forth out of his mouth, and shall burn that man.

By these prodigies and powers he shall turn many to the worship of God; and when his works shall be accomplished, another king shall arise out of Syria, born from an evil spirit, the overthrower and destroyer of the human race, who shall destroy that which is left by the former evil, together with himself.

He shall fight against the prophet of God, and shall overcome, and slay him, and shall suffer him to lie unburied; but after the third day he shall come to life again; and while all look on and wonder, he shall be caught up into heaven.

But that king will not only be most disgraceful in himself, but he will also be a prophet of lies; and he will constitute and call himself God, and will order himself to be worshipped as the Son of God; and power will be given him to do signs and wonders, by the sight of which he may entice men to adore him.

He will command fire to come down from heaven, and the sun to stand and leave his course, and an image to speak; and these things shall be done at his word,—by which miracles many even of the wise shall be enticed by him. Then he will attempt to destroy the temple of God, and persecute the righteous people; and there will be distress and tribulation, such as there never has been from the beginning of the world.

As many as shall believe him and unite themselves to him, shall be marked by him as sheep; but they who shall refuse his mark will either flee to the mountains, or, being seized, will be slain with studied tortures. He will also enwrap righteous men with the books of the prophets, and thus burn them; and power will be given him to desolate the whole earth for forty-two months.

That will be the time in which righteousness shall be cast out, and innocence be hated; in which the wicked shall prey upon the good as enemies; neither law, nor order, nor military discipline shall be preserved; no one shall reverence hoary locks, nor recognise the duty of piety, nor pity sex or infancy; all things shall be confounded and mixed together against right, and against the laws of nature. Thus the earth shall be laid waste, as though by one common robbery.

When these things shall so happen, then the righteous and the followers of truth shall separate themselves from the wicked, and flee into solitudes. And when he hears of this, the impious king, inflamed with anger, will come with a great army, and bringing up all his forces, will surround all the mountain in which the righteous shall be situated, that he may seize them.

But they, when they shall see themselves to be shut in on all sides and besieged, will call upon God with a loud voice, and implore the aid of heaven; and God shall hear them, and send from heaven a great king to rescue and free them, and destroy all the wicked with fire and sword.

We have by this time said enough about sleep, the mirror and image of death; and likewise about the occupations of sleep, even dreams. Let us now go on to consider the cause of our departure hence—that is, the appointment and course of death—because we must not leave even it unquestioned and unexamined, although it is itself the very end of all questions and investigations. No one will ascribe to magic such influence as shall exempt from death, or which shall refresh and vivify life, like the vine by the renewal of its condition. Such power was not accorded to the great Medea herself—over a human being at any rate, if allowed her over a silly sheep.

Enoch no doubt was translated, and so was Elijah; nor did they experience death: it was postponed, (and only postponed,) most certainly: they are reserved for the suffering of death, that by their blood they may extinguish Antichrist. Even John underwent death, although concerning him there had prevailed an ungrounded expectation that he would remain alive until the coming of the Lord.

Heresies, indeed, for the most part spring hurriedly into existence, from examples furnished by ourselves: they procure their defensive armour from the very place which they attack. The whole question resolves itself, in short, into this challenge: Where are to be found the men whom Menander himself has baptized? Whom he has plunged into his Styx? Let them come forth and stand before us—those apostles of his whom he has made immortal? Let my (doubting) Thomas see them, let him hear them, let him handle them—and he is convinced.

Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and simple as doves. And take heed of men. For they will deliver you up in Councils, and in their Synagogues they will scourge you. And to presidents and to kings shall you be led for my sake, in testimony to them and the Gentiles. But when they shall deliver you up, take no thought how or what to speak: for it shall be given you in that hour what to speak.

For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you. The brother also shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the Son: and the children shall rise up against the parents, and shall work their death, and you shall be odious to all men for my name: but he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved. And when they shall persecute you in this city, flee into another. Amen I say to you, you shall not finish all the cities of Israel, till the Son of man come.

I came to cast fire on the earth; & what will I, but that it be kindled? But I have to be baptized with a baptism: and how am I straitened until it be dispatched? Think you that I came to give peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but separation. For there shall be from this time, five in one house divided: three against two, and two against three.

There shall be divided, the father against the son, and the son against his father, the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother, the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

And he spake also a parable to them that it behoveth always to pray, & not to be weary, saying: There was a certain judge in a certain city, which feared not God, and of man made no account. And there was a certain widow in that city, and she came to him, saying: Revenge me of mine adversary. And he would not of a long time. But afterward he said within himself: Although I fear not God, nor make account of man,

yet because this widow is importune upon me, I will revenge her, lest at the last she come and defame me. And our Lord said: Hear what the judge of iniquity sayeth. And will not God revenge his elect that cry to him day and night: and will he have patience in them? Isay to you that he will quickly revenge them. But yet the Son of man coming, shall he find trow you, faith in the earth?

And they asked him, saying: Master, when shall these things be: and what shall be the sign when they shall begin to come to pass? Who said: See you be not seduced. For many will come in my name, saying that I am he: and the time is at hand, go not therefore after them. And when you shall hear of wars and seditions, be not terrified: these things must first come to pass, but the end is not yet by and by. Then he said to them: Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

And there shall be great earth-quakes in places, and pestilences and famines, and terrors from Heaven, and there shall be great signs. But before all these things they will lay their hands upon you: and persecute you delivering you into Synagogues and prisons, drawing you to kings and Presidents for my name. and it shall happen unto you for testimony. Lay up this therefore in your hearts, not to premeditate how you shall answer.

For I will give you mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to resist and gainsay. And you shall be delivered up of your parents and brethren, and kinsmen and friends: and they will put to death of you. And you shall be odious to all men for my name: and a hair of your head shall not perish.

In your patience you shall possess your souls. And when you shall see Jerusalem compassed about with an army, then know that the desolation thereof is at hand. then they that are in Jewry, let them flee to the mountains: and they in the midst thereof, let them depart: and they in the countries, let them not enter into it. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things may be fulfilled that are written.

But woe to them that are with child & that give suck in those days. For there shall be great affliction upon the land, and wrath on this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword; and shall be led captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden of the Gentiles, till the times of nations be fulfilled. And there shall be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars: and upon earth distress of nations, for the confusion of the sound of sea and waves, men withering for fear and expectation, what shall come upon the whole world. For the powers of Heaven shall be moved:

and then they shall see the Son of man coming in a cloud with great power and majesty. But when these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your heads: because your redemption is at hand.

And when he was come thither, he tarried in a cave, and behold the word of our Lord unto him, and he said to him: What doest thou here Elias? But he answered: With zeal have I been zealous for our Lord the God of hosts, because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant: thy altars have they destroyed, and thy Prophets they have slain with the sword, and I alone am left, and they seek my life to take it away. And he said to him: Come forth, and stand in the mount before our Lord: and behold our Lord passeth, and a great wind and strong, overthrowing mountains and breaking rocks before our Lord: not in the wind is our Lord, and after the wind an earth quake: not in the earth quake is our Lord, and after the earth quake fire: not in the fire is our Lord, & after the fire a whistling of a gentle wind.

Which when Elias had heard, he covered his face with his mantle, and coming forth stood in the door of the cave, and behold a voice unto him, saying: What doest thou here Elias? And he answered: With zeal have I been zealous for our Lord the God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant: thine altars they have destroyed, and thy Prophets they have slain with the sword, and I alone am left, and they seek my life to take it away. And our Lord said to him: Go, and return into thy way by the desert of Damascus: and when thou art come thither thou shalt anoint Hazael king over Syria, and Jehu the son of Namsi thou shalt anoint king over Israel: and Eliseus the son of Saphat, which is of Abelmeula, thou shalt anoint prophet for thee.

And it shall be, whosoever shall escape the sword of Hazael, him Jehu shall kill: and whosoever shall escape the sword of Jehu, him shall Eliseus kill. And I will leave me in Israel seven thousand men, whose knees have not been bowed before Baal, and every mouth, that hath not adored him kissing his hands.

And the word of our Lord was made to me, saying: Son of man, set thy face against Gog, and the Land of Magog, the Prince of the head of Mosoch, and Thubal: and prophesy of him and thou shalt say to him: Thus saith our Lord God: Behold I to thee Gog Prince of the head of Mosoch and Thubal. And I will turn thee about, and will put a bit in thy jaws: and will bring forth thee, and all thine army, the horses and horsemen clothed with brigantines, a great multitude, of them that take spear and buckler and sword.

The Persians, Æthiopians, and Libyans with them, all with shields & helmets. Gomer, and all her troops, the houses of Thogorma the sides of the North, and all his strength, and many peoples with them. Prepare and make ready thyself, and all thy multitude, that is gathered to thee in heaps: and be thou as a precept to them. After many days thou shalt be visited: in the later end of years thou shalt come to the land, that is returned from the sword, and is gathered together out of many peoples, to the mountains of Israel, that were desert continually: this same is brought forth out of the peoples, and they shall all dwell in it confidently.

And going up as a tempest thou shalt come, & as it were a cloud that thou mayst cover the land, thou & thy troops, & many peoples with thee. Thus saith our Lord God: In that day shall words ascend upon thy heart, and thou shalt think a most wicked thought. And shalt say: I will go up to the land without wall: I will come to them that rest, & dwell securely: all these dwell without wall, there are no bars nor gates to them: That thou mayst take the spoils, & invade the prey, that thou mayst lay thy hand upon them, that had been desert, & afterward restored, & upon the people that is gathered together out of the Gentiles, which hath begun to possess, & to be inhabitant of the navel of the earth.

Saba, & Dedan, and the merchants of Tharsis, & all the lions thereof shall say to thee: What comest thou to take spoils? Behold thou hast gathered thy multitude to take the prey, that thou mayst take silver, and gold, and mayst take away stuff & substance, and spoil infinite booties. Therefore prophesy thou son of man, and thou shalt say to Gog: Thus saith our Lord God: Why shalt thou not know in that day, when my people of Israel shall dwell confidently? And thou shalt come out of thy place from the sides of the North, thou & many peoples with thee, all riders of horses, a great company, and a vehement army. And thou shalt ascend upon my people of Israel as a cloud, that thou cover the earth. In the later days shalt thou be, and I will bring thee upon my land: that the Gentiles may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee before their eyes, o Gog.

Thus saith our Lord God: Thou then art he, of whom I spake in the days of old, in the hand of my servants the Prophets of Israel, which prophesied in the days of those times, that I would bring in thee upon them. And it shall be in that day, in the day of the coming of Gog upon the land of Israel, saith our Lord God, mine indignation shall ascend in my fury. And in my zeal, and in the fire of my wrath I have spoken. That in that day shall be a great commotion upon the land of Israel: and at my presence shall the fishes of the sea be moved, and the fowls of heaven, and the beasts of the field, and every creeping thing, that moveth upon the ground, and all men that are upon the face of the earth: & the mountains shall be overthrown, & the hedges shall fall, and every wall shall fall on the ground.

And I will call in against him in all my mountains the sword, saith our Lord God: every man's sword shall be directed against his brother. And I will judge him with pestilence, & blood, & vehement shower, & mighty great stones: fire, and brimstone will I rain upon him, and upon his army, and upon the many peoples that are with him. And I will be magnified, and I will be sanctified: and I will be known in the eyes of many nations: and they shall know that I am the Lord.

But thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, & thou shalt say: Thus saith our Lord God: Behold I upon thee Gog, the Prince of the head of Mosoch and Thubal. And I will turn thee about, & will reduce thee, and will make thee ascend from the sides of the North: & will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel. And I will strike thy bow in thy left hand, & thine arrows I will cast down out of thy right hand. Upon the mountains of Israel shalt thou fall, and all thy troops, and thy peoples that are with thee: to the wild beasts, to the birds, and to every fowl, and to the beasts of the earth have I given thee to be devoured.

Thou shalt fall upon the face of the field: because I have spoken, saith our Lord God. And I will send in fire upon Magog, and on them that dwell in the islands confidently: and they shall know that I am the Lord. And my holy name will I make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will pollute my holy name no more: and the Gentiles shall know that I am the Lord the holy one of Israel. Behold it cometh, and it is done, saith our Lord God: this is the day, whereof I have spoken.

And the inhabitants shall go forth of the cities of Israel, and shall set on fire and burn weapons, buckler, and spears, bow and arrows, and hand-staves, and poleaxes: and they shall burn them with fire seven years. And they shall not carry trees out of the countries, nor cut down out of the forests: because they shall burn the weapons with fire, & shall make prey of them, to whom they had been a prey, & they shall spoil their spoilers, saith our Lord God. And it shall be in that day: I will give Gog a renowned place for a sepulchre in Israel: the valley of wayfaring men on the East of the sea, which shall make them that pass by to be astonished: & they shall there burn Gog, and all his multitude, and it shall be called the valley of the multitude of Gog. And the house of Israel shall bury them, that they may cleanse the land seven months.

And all the people of the land shall bury him, and it shall be unto them a renowned day, wherein I was glorified, saith our Lord God. And they shall appoint men continually going about the land, to bury & to seek them, that were remaining upon the face of the earth, that they may cleanse it: and after seven months they shall begin to seek. And they that travel through the land shall go about: and when they shall see the bone of a man, they shall set up a sign beside it, till the buriers bury it in the valley of the multitude of Gog. And the name of the city Amona, and they shall cleanse the land.

Thou therefore o son of man, saith our Lord God, say to every fowl, and to all birds, and to all the beasts of the field: Come together, make haste, run together on every side to my victim, which I immolate for you, the great victim upon the mountains of Israel: that you may eat the flesh, and drink the blood. The flesh of the strong shall you eat, and the blood of the princes of the earth shall you drink: of rams, of lambs, and of buckgoats, and bulls, and of fed wares, and of all fat things. And you shall eat the fat your fill, and shall drink blood till you be drunk of the victim, which I shall immolate for you. And you shall be filled upon my table of horse, and strong horsemen, and of all the men of war, saith our Lord God.

and I will put my glory in the Gentiles: and all nations shall see my judgement, that I have done, and my hand, that I have put upon them. And the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and so forward. And the Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel was taken in their iniquity, for that they forsook me, and I hid my face from them: and delivered them into the hands of the enemies, and they fell all by the sword. According to their uncleanness and wickedness have I done to them, and have hid my face from them.

Therefore thus saith our Lord God: Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and will have mercy on all the house of Israel: and I will take on me zeal for my holy name. And they shall bear their confusion, and all the prevarication wherewith they prevaricated against me, when they shall dwell in their land confidently fearing no man: and I shall have brought them back out of the peoples, & shall have gathered them together out of the lands of their enemies, and shall be sanctified in them, in the eyes of many nations. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, for that I transported them into the nations, and have gathered them together upon their own land, & have not left any of them there.

And I will hide my face no more from them, because I have poured out my spirit upon all the house of Israel, saith our Lord God.

But in that time shall rise up Michael the great prince, who standeth for the children of thy people: and a time shall come such as hath not been from the time since nations began even until that time. And in that time shall thy people be saved, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of those, that sleep in the dust of the earth, shall awake: some unto life everlasting, & others unto reproach to see it always. But they that be learned shall shine as the brightness of the firmament: and they that instruct many to justice, as stars unto perpetual eternities. But thou Daniel shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time appointed: very many shall pass over, and there shall be manifest knowledge.

And I Daniel saw, and behold there stood as it were two others: one on this side upon the bank of the river, and another on that side, on the other bank of the river. And I said to the man, that was clothed with linen garments, that stood upon the waters of the river: How long the end of these marvels? And I heard the man, that was clothed with the linen garments, that stood upon the waters of the river, when he had lifted up his right hand, & his left hand unto heaven, and had sworn by him that liveth for ever, that unto a time, & times, & the half of a time. And when the dispersion of the hand of the holy people shall be accomplished, all these things shall be accomplished. And I heard, & understood not. And I said: My Lord, what shall be after these things?

And he said: Go Daniel, because the words are shut up, and sealed until the prefixed time. Many shall be chosen, and made white, & shall be tried as fire: and the impious shall do impiously, neither shall all the impious understand, but the learned shall understand. And from the time when the continual sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination to desolation shall be set up, a thousand two hundred ninety days. Blessed is he that expecteth, and cometh unto days a thousand three hundred thirty five.

But thou go, until the time prefixed: and thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot unto the end of the days.

And a great sign appeared in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, & on her head a crown of twelve stars: and being with child, she cried also travailing, and is in anguish to be delivered. And there was seen another sign in heaven, and behold a great red dragon having seven heads, & ten horns: and on his heads seven diadems, and his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered; that when she should be delivered, he might devour her son.

And she brought forth a man child, who was to govern all nations in an iron rod; & her son was taken up to God and to his throne, & the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared of God, that there they might feed her a thousand two hundred sixty days. And there was made a great battle in heaven, Michael and his Angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his Angels: and they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven.

And that great dragon was cast forth, the old serpent, which is called the devil and Satan, which seduceth the whole world: and he was cast into the earth, & his Angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a great voice in heaven saying: Now is there made salvation and force, and the Kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: because the accuser of our brethren is cast forth, who accused them before the sight of our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore rejoice, o heavens, and you that dwell therein. Woe to the earth & to the sea, because the devil is descended to you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath a little time.

And after the dragon saw that he was thrown into the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child: and there were given to the woman two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the desert unto her place, where she is nourished for a time & times, & half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman, water as it were a flood: that he might make her to be carried away with the flood. And the earth holp the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

And the dragon was angry against the woman: and went to make battle with the rest of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. And he stood upon the sand of the sea.

And I heard a great voice out of the temple, saying to the seven Angels: Go, and pour out the seven vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth, & there was made a cruel & very sore wound upon men that had the character of the beast: and upon them that adored the image thereof. And the second Angel poured out his vial upon the sea, and there was made blood as it were of one dead: and every living soul died in the sea. And the third poured out his vial upon the rivers and the fountains of waters: and there was made blood.

And I heard the Angel of the waters, saying: Thou art just, o Lord, which art, and which wast, the holy one, because thou hast judged these things: because they have shed the blood of the Saints and Prophets, & thou hast given them blood to drink. For they are worthy. And I heard another, saying: Yea Lord God omnipotent, true and just are thy judgements. And the fourth Angel poured out his vial upon the sun, and it was given unto him to afflict men with heat and fire:

and men boiled with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God having power over these plagues, neither did they penance to give him glory. And the fifth Angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast: and his kingdom was made dark, and they together did eat their tongues for pain: and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and wounds, and did not penance from their works. And the sixth Angel poured out his vial upon that great river Euphrates: and dried up the water thereof that a way might be prepared to the kings from the rising of the sun.

And I saw from the mouth of the dragon, and from the mouth of the beast, and from the mouth of the false-prophet three unclean spirits in manner of frogs. For they are the spirits of devils working signs, and they go forth to the kings of the whole earth to gather them into battle at the great day of the omnipotent God. Behold I come as a thief: Blessed is he that watcheth, & keepeth his garments, that he walk not naked, and they see his turpitude. And he shall gather them into a place which in Hebrew is called Armagedon.

And the seventh Angel poured out his vial upon the air, and there came forth a loud voice out of the temple from the throne, saying: It is done. And there were made lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and a great earth-quake was made, such an one as never hath been since men were upon the earth, such an earth-quake, so great. And the great city was made into three parts: and the cities of the Gentiles fell. And Babylon the great came into memory before God, to give her the cup of wine of the indignation of his wrath. And every Island fled, and mountains were not found.

And great hail like a talent came down from heaven upon men: and men blasphemed God for the plague of the hail: because it was made exceeding great.

After these things I heard as it were the voice of many multitudes in heaven saying, Allelu-ia. Praise, and glory and power is to our God: because true & just are his judgements which hath judged of the great harlot, that hath corrupted the earth in her whoredom, and hath revenged the blood of his servants, of her hands. And again they said, Allelu-ia. And her smoke ascendeth for ever and ever. And the four and twenty Seniors fell down, and the four beasts, & adored God sitting upon the throne, saying: Amen, Allelu-ia.

And a voice came out from the throne, saying: Say praise to our God all ye his servants: and you that fear him, little and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, & as the voice of great thunders, saying, Allelu-ia: because our Lord God the omnipotent hath reigned. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give glory to him: because the marriage of the Lamb is come, & his wife hath prepared herself. And it was given to her that she clothe herself with silk glittering and white. For the silk are the justifications of Saints.

And he said to me: Write, Blessed be they that are called to the supper of the marriage of the Lamb. And he said to me: These words of God, be true. And I fell before his feet, to adore him. And he saith to me: See thou do not; I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus. Adore God. For the testimony of Jesus, is the spirit of prophecy. And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse: and he that sat upon him, was called Faithful and True, and with justice he judgeth & fighteth. And his eyes as a flame of fire, and on his head many diadems, having a name written, which no man knoweth but himself.

And he was clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood: and his name is called, The Word of God. And the hosts that are in heaven followed him on white horses clothed in white and pure silk. And out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp sword: that in it he may strike the Gentiles. And he shall rule them in a rod of iron: and he treadeth the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God omnipotent. And he hath in his garment and in his thigh written, King of Kings And Lord of Lords.

And I saw one Angel standing in the sun, & he cried with a loud voice saying to all the birds that did fly by the midst of heaven: Come and assemble together to the great supper of God: that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of tribunes, and the flesh of valiants, and the flesh of horses and of them that sit on them, & the flesh of all free-men and bond-men, and of little and great. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, & their armies gathered to make war with him that sat upon the horse and with his army. And the beast was apprehended, and with him the false-prophet: which wrought signs before him, wherewith he seduced them that took the character of the beast, and that adored his image. These two were cast alive into the pool of fire burning also with brimstone.

And the rest were slain by the sword of him that sitteth upon the horse, which proceedeth out of his mouth: and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

‘There shall be a time of trouble.’ For at that time there shall be great trouble, such as has not been from the foundation of the world, when some in one way, and others in another, shall be sent through every city and country to destroy the faithful; and the saints shall travel from the west to the east, and shall be driven in persecution from the east to the south, while others shall conceal themselves in the mountains and caves; and the abomination shall war against them everywhere, and shall cut them off by sea and by land by his decree, and shall endeavour by every means to destroy them out of the world; and they shall not be able any longer to sell their own property, nor to buy from strangers, unless one keeps and carries with him the name of the beast, or bears its mark upon his forehead.

For then they shall all be driven out from every place, and dragged from their own homes and haled into prison, and punished with all manner of punishment, and cast out from the whole world.

‘These shall awake to everlasting life.’ That is, those who have believed in the true life, and who have their names written in the book of life. ‘And these to shame.’ That is, those who are attached to Antichrist, and who are cast with him into everlasting punishment.

Now, concerning the tribulation of the persecution which is to fall upon the Church from the adversary, John also speaks thus: ‘And I saw a great and wondrous sign in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And she, being with child, cries, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

And she brought forth a man-child, who is to rule all the nations: and the child was caught up unto God and to His throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has the place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. And then when the dragon saw it, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child.

And to the woman were given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast (out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast) out of his mouth.

And the dragon was angry with the woman, and went to make war with the saints of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus.’

By the woman then clothed with the sun, he meant most manifestly the Church, endued with the Father’s word, whose brightness is above the sun. And by the ‘moon under her feet’ he referred to her being adorned, like the moon, with heavenly glory. And the words, ‘upon her head a crown of twelve stars,’ refer to the twelve apostles by whom the Church was founded.

And those, ‘she, being with child, cries, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered,’ mean that the Church will not cease to bear from her heart the Word that is persecuted by the unbelieving in the world. ‘And she brought forth,’ he says, ‘a man-child, who is to rule all the nations;’ by which is meant that the Church, always bringing forth Christ, the perfect man-child of God, who is declared to be God and man, becomes the instructor of all the nations.

And the words, ‘her child was caught up unto God and to His throne,’ signify that he who is always born of her is a heavenly king, and not an earthly; even as David also declared of old when he said, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool.’

‘And the dragon,’ he says, ‘saw and persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child. And to the woman were given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.’ That refers to the one thousand two hundred and threescore days (the half of the week) during which the tyrant is to reign and persecute the Church, which flees from city to city, and seeks concealment in the wilderness among the mountains, possessed of no other defense than the two wings of the great eagle, that is to say, the faith of Jesus Christ, who, in stretching forth His holy hands on the holy tree, unfolded two wings, the right and the left, and called to Him all who believed upon Him, and covered them as a hen her chickens.

For by the mouth of Malachi also He speaks thus: ‘And unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings.’

Nor let any one of you, beloved brethren, be so terrified by the fear of future persecution, or the coming of the threatening Antichrist, as not to be found armed for all things by the evangelical exhortations and precepts, and by the heavenly warnings. Antichrist is coming, but above him comes Christ also. The enemy goes about and rages, but immediately the Lord follows to avenge our sufferings and our wounds.

The adversary is enraged and threatens, but there is One who can deliver us from his hands.

He is to be feared whose anger no one can escape, as He Himself forewarns, and says: “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell.” And again: “He that loves his life, shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world, shall keep it unto life eternal.” And in the Apocalypse He instructs and forewarns, saying, “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, mixed in the cup of His indignation, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and the smoke of their torments shall ascend up for ever and ever; and they shall have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image.”

If they desire peace, let them lay aside their arms. If they make atonement, why do they threaten? Or if they threaten, let them know that they are not feared by God’s priests. For even Antichrist, when he shall begin to come, shall not enter into the Church because he threatens; neither shall we yield to his arms and violence, because he declares that he will destroy us if we resist.

Heretics arm us when they think that we are terrified by their threatenings; nor do they cast us down on our face, but rather they lift us up and inflame us, when they make peace itself worse to the brethren than persecution. And we desire, indeed, that they may not fill up with crime what they speak in madness, that they who sin with perfidious and cruel words may not also sin in deeds.

We pray and beseech God, whom they do not cease to provoke and exasperate, that He will soften their hearts, that they may lay aside their madness, and return to soundness of mind; that their breasts, covered over with the darkness of sins, may acknowledge the light of repentance, and that they may rather seek that the prayers and supplications of the priest may be poured out on their behalf, than themselves pour out the blood of the priest.

But if they continue in their madness, and cruelly persevere in these their parricidal deceits and threats, no priest of God is so weak, so prostrate, and so abject, so inefficient by the weakness of human infirmity, as not to be aroused against the enemies and impugners of God by strength from above; as not to find his humility and weakness animated by the vigour and strength of the Lord who protects him.

It matters nothing to us by whom, or when we are slain, since we shall receive from the Lord the reward of our death and of our blood. Their concision is to be mourned and lamented, whom the devil so blinds, that, without considering the eternal punishments of Gehenna, they endeavour to imitate the coming of Antichrist, who is now approaching.

“And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed from his prison, and shall go out to seduce the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, and shall draw them to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.” This then, is his purpose in seducing them, to draw them to this battle. For even before this he was wont to use as many and various seductions as he could continue.

And the words “he shall go out” mean, he shall burst forth from lurking hatred into open persecution. For this persecution, occurring while the final judgment is imminent, shall be the last which shall be endured by the holy Church throughout the world, the whole city of Christ being assailed by the whole city of the devil, as each exists on earth.

For these nations which he names Gog and Magog are not to be understood of some barbarous nations in some part of the world, whether the Getæ and Massagetæ, as some conclude from the initial letters, or some other foreign nations not under the Roman government. For John marks that they are spread over the whole earth, when he says, “The nations which are in the four corners of the earth,” and he added that these are Gog and Magog.

The meaning of these names we find to be, Gog, “a roof,” Magog, “from a roof,”—a house, as it were, and he who comes out of the house. They are therefore the nations in which we found that the devil was shut up as in an abyss, and the devil himself coming out from them and going forth, so that they are the roof, he from the roof.

Or if we refer both words to the nations, not one to them and one to the devil, then they are both the roof, because in them the old enemy is at present shut up, and as it were roofed in; and they shall be from the roof when they break forth from concealed to open hatred.

The words, “And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and encompassed the camp of the saints and the beloved city,” do not mean that they have come, or shall come, to one place, as if the camp of the saints and the beloved city should be in some one place; for this camp is nothing else than the Church of Christ extending over the whole world.

And consequently wherever the Church shall be,—and it shall be in all nations, as is signified by “the breadth of the earth,”—there also shall be the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and there it shall be encompassed by the savage persecution of all its enemies; for they too shall exist along with it in all nations,—that is, it shall be straitened, and hard pressed, and shut up in the straits of tribulation, but shall not desert its military duty, which is signified by the word “camp.”

The words, ‘And fire came down out of heaven and devoured them,’ are not to be understood of the final punishment which shall be inflicted when it is said, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire;’ for then they shall be cast into the fire, not fire come down out of heaven upon them.

In this place ‘fire out of heaven’ is well understood of the firmness of the saints, wherewith they refuse to yield obedience to those who rage against them. For the firmament is ‘heaven,’ by whose firmness these assailants shall be pained with blazing zeal, for they shall be impotent to draw away the saints to the party of Antichrist.

This is the fire which shall devour them, and this is ‘from God;’ for it is by God’s grace the saints become unconquerable, and so torment their enemies. For as in a good sense it is said, ‘The zeal of Your house has consumed me,’ so in a bad sense it is said, ‘Zeal has possessed the uninstructed people, and now fire shall consume the enemies.’

‘And now,’ that is to say, not the fire of the last judgment. Or if by this fire coming down out of heaven and consuming them, John meant that blow wherewith Christ in His coming is to strike those persecutors of the Church whom He shall then find alive upon earth, when He shall kill Antichrist with the breath of His mouth, then even this is not the last judgment of the wicked; but the last judgment is that which they shall suffer when the bodily resurrection has taken place.

For from her adversaries the Church suffers persecution in two ways, viz. either by words or by swords. Now when she bears persecution by words, her wisdom is put in exercise, when by swords, her patience. Now persecutions of words we do now too as well daily undergo at the hands of heretics, when heretics themselves flatter us with crafty tongues and with feigned humility, but the persecutions of swords are destined to follow towards the end of the world, that the grains to be stored up in the heavenly granaries may be the more genuinely cleared of the chaff of sins, the more straitly they are bruised with affliction.

Then all the Elect, that may be caught in that tribulation, call to mind these times when now the Church secures the peace of the faith, when she holds under the proud necks of heretics, not by the potency of her highness, but by the yoke of reason. They call to mind ourselves, who are passing quiet times of faith, who, though we be straitened in the wars of the nations, yet are not driven to extremity in the sayings of Fathers.

For by the awful course of the secret dispensation, before this Leviathan appears in that accursed man whom he assumes, signs of power are withdrawn from Holy Church. For prophecy is hidden, the grace of healings is taken away, the power of longer abstinence is weakened, the words of doctrine are silent, the prodigies of miracles are removed. And though the heavenly dispensation does not entirely withdraw them, yet it does not manifest them openly and in manifold ways as in former times. And this is so caused by a wonderful dispensation, in order that the Divine mercy and justice may be fulfilled together by one and the same means. For when Holy Church appears as if she were more abject, on the withdrawal of signs of power, both the reward of the good increases, who reverence her for the hope of heavenly things, and not on account of present signs; and the mind of the wicked is the more quickly displayed against her, who neglect to pursue the invisible things which she promises, when they are not constrained by visible signs. When therefore the humility of the faithful is deprived of the manifold manifestation of wonders, by the terrible judgment of the secret dispensation, there is heaped up more abundant mercy for the good, and just anger for the evil, by the same means. Because these signs of power cease, in great measure, in Holy Church, before this Leviathan manifestly and visibly comes, it is now rightly said; Want will go before his face. For the riches of miracles are first withdrawn from the faithful, and then that ancient enemy displays himself against them with visible prodigies, in order that as he boasts himself on his wonders, he may be overthrown more mightily and more honourably by the faithful without wonders. For though signs will not be wanting to the faithful in their contest with him, yet his will be so great, that those of our people will seem to be rather few or none at all. But their virtue doubtless becomes mightier than all signs, when it crushes with the heel of inward resolution all his terrible deeds which it beholds. But the malignant enemy displays himself against them with so much the fiercer cruelty, the more he grieves that he is despised even with the brightness of his miracles. He therefore gathers himself together for their destruction, and unites all the reprobate with unanimous cruelty for the death of the faithful; in order that he may put forth his cruelty with so much greater power, in proportion as all the members of his body agree with him in the things he seeks perversely to effect.

That which above He called a ‘spear,’ he mentioned again below under the appellation of ‘iron:’ and that which He spoke of as a ‘breastplate,’ He again designated by mentioning it as ‘brass.’ For iron is sharpened, that the adversary may be wounded; but brass is hardly destroyed by any rust. Whence also it is said by Moses of Holy Church under the character of Asher; His shoe is iron and brass. For by ‘shoe’ is understood in Holy Scripture the defence of preaching; as it is written, Feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. Because then strength is expressed by ‘iron,’ but perseverance by ‘brass;’ her shoe is said to be iron and brass, when her preaching is protected by sharpness, and firmness at the same time. For by iron she penetrates opposing evils, but by brass she patiently preserves the blessings she has set before her. Whose perseverance he there in truth more plainly points out, saying, As the days of his youth, so also shall his old age be. But when this Leviathan has taken that sword, whom the Holy Scriptures call Antichrist, for the sake of practising his iniquity, he will esteem both iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood; because, unless Divine grace gives protection, he will both consume with the fire of his wickedness the strength of preachers as straw, and will reduce to dust the constancy of the patient like rotten wood. And therefore the keenness of iron and the strength of brass fail, when by the violence of his might both the understanding of preaching is blunted, and the long-suffering of patience is scattered.

Unless then the Divine assistance strengthens its Elect, where will the weak then be, if the strong are counted as straw? What will this Leviathan then do with the straw, if he will count the iron as straw? What is he about to do with the rotten wood, if he will break as rotten wood the strength of brass? But O! how many who think that they are in their own strength iron or brass, in that fire of tribulation then find that they are straw; and how many who from their own infirmity are afraid that they are straw, when supported by the Divine help are strengthened with the solidity of brass or iron, so as to be the stronger in God against their adversary the more they remember that they are weak in themselves.

What is typified by the ‘sling,’ but Holy Church? For when a sling is whirled round, so do stones fly out of it, for the breasts of the adversaries to be struck therewith. In like manner when Holy Church is led through a circuit of tribulations, in the whirl of time, mighty men come forth from her, by whom the hearts of the wicked are to be beaten as if by the blows of stones. Whence the Lord says to the Prophet concerning good teachers, They shall devour, and subdue with sling stones. For holy teachers who train others also in virtue, devour their enemies, when they change them within their own body by the power of conversion. And they subdue them with sling stones, because while they train all the mighty men in Holy Church, they crush by their means the hard breasts of proud adversaries. Whence also the giant Goliath is killed by the stone of the sling; because the lofty height of the devil is overcome by a single stone of Holy Church. Because then this Leviathan, when he has assumed that accursed man, despises all the mighty ones of the Church, as if they were weak, and crushes their strength for a season, is it now rightly said, The stones of the sling are turned with him into stubble. As if it were plainly said, He reduces as it were into the softness of stubble the strength of Saints, whose tongue before smote his breast with hard blows. For then putting forth all the strength of his iniquity, the more he grieves at being vanquished by them spiritually, the more fiercely does he prevail against them bodily. And because he considers that he has no power against their spirit, he carries out in their flesh all the methods of his cruelty. But what wonder if he despises the strength of men, since he scorns even the very torments of the heavenly judgment against him. Whence it is also subjoined, He will esteem the hammer as stubble.

There are, through wilfulness of teachings, heresies assailing the Church; at the present time no less than in the future will Antichrist attack her by cruelty of persecutions, only there is this difference: persecution makes martyrs, heresy only apostates.

Behold! the days come, and it shall be when the time of the age has ripened, and the harvest of its evil and good seeds has come, that the Mighty One will bring upon the earth and its inhabitants and upon its rulers perturbation of spirit and stupor of heart.

And they shall hate one another, and provoke one another to fight, and the mean shall rule over the honourable, and those of low degree shall be extolled above the famous. And the many shall be delivered into the hands of the few, and those who were nothing shall rule over the strong, and the poor shall have abundance beyond the rich, and the impious shall exalt themselves above the heroic.

And the wise shall be silent, and the foolish shall speak, neither shall the thought of men be then confirmed, nor the counsel of the mighty, nor shall the hope of those who hope be confirmed.

And when those things which were predicted have come to pass, then shall confusion fall upon all men, and some of them shall fall in battle, and some of them shall perish in anguish, and some of them shall be destroyed by their own.

Then the Most High will reveal those peoples whom He has prepared before, and they shall come and make war with the leaders that shall then be left. And it shall come to pass that whosoever gets safe out of the war shall die in the earthquake, and whosoever gets safe out of the earthquake shall be burned by the fire, and whosoever gets safe out of the fire shall be destroyed by famine.

And it shall come to pass that whosoever of the victors and the vanquished gets safe out of and escapes all these things aforesaid shall be delivered into the hands of My servant Messiah. For all the earth shall devour its inhabitants.

And it came to pass after that Hezekiah died and Manasseh became king, that he did not remember the commands of Hezekiah his father but forgat them, and Sammael abode in Manasseh and clung fast to him. And Manasseh forsook the service of the God of his father, and he served Satan and his angels and his powers. And he turned aside the house of his father which had been before the face of Hezekiah from the words of wisdom and from the service of God.

And Manasseh turned aside his heart to serve Beliar; for the angel of lawlessness, who is the ruler of this world, is Beliar, whose name is Matanbuchus. And he delighted in Jerusalem because of Manasseh, and he made him strong in apostatizing Israel and in the lawlessness which was spread abroad in Jerusalem.

And witchcraft and magic increased and divination and auguration, and fornication, and adultery, and the persecution of the righteous by Manasseh and Belachira, and Tobia the Canaanite, and John of Anathoth, and by Zadok the chief of the works. And the rest of the acts, behold they are written in the book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

And when Isaiah the son of Amoz saw the lawlessness which was being perpetrated in Jerusalem and the worship of Satan and his wantonness, he withdrew from Jerusalem and settled in Bethlehem of Judah. And there also there was much lawlessness, and withdrawing from Bethlehem he settled on a mountain in a desert place.

And Micaiah the prophet, and the aged Ananias, and Joel and Habakkuk, and his son Josab, and many of the faithful who believed in the ascension into heaven, withdrew and settled on the mountain. They were all clothed with garments of hair, and they were all prophets. And they had nothing with them but were naked, and they all lamented with a great lamentation because of the going astray of Israel.

And these eat nothing save wild herbs which they gathered on the mountains, and having cooked them, they lived thereon together with Isaiah the prophet. And they spent two years of days on the mountains and hills.

Knowing this first, that in the last days shall come mockers in deceit, walking according to their own concupiscences, saying, Where is his promise or his coming? For since the time that the fathers slept, all things do so persevere from the beginning of creature. For they are willfully ignorant of this, that the Heavens were before, and the earth, out of water, and through water, consisting by the word of God: by the which, that world then, being overflowed with water perished.

But the Heavens which now are, and the earth, are by the same word kept in store, reserved to fire unto the day of judgement and of the perdition of the impious men. But this one thing be not ignorant of, my dearest, that one day with our Lord is as a thousand years, & a thousand years as one day. Our Lord slacketh not his promise, as some do esteem it: but he doth patiently for you, not willing that any perish, but that all return to penance. And the day of our Lord shall come as a thief, in the which the Heavens shall pass with great violence, but the elements shall be resolved with heat, and the earth and the works which are in it, shall be burnt.

Therefore whereas all these things are to be dissolved, what manner of men ought you to be in holy conversations and godlinesses, expecting and hasting unto the coming of the day of our Lord, by which the Heavens burning shall be resolved, and the elements shall melt with the heat of fire? But we expect new Heavens and a new earth according to his promises, in which justice inhabiteth. For the which cause, my dearest, expecting these things, labour earnestly to be found immaculate and unspotted to him in peace:

and the longanimity of our Lord, do ye account salvation, as also our most dear brother Paul according to the wisdom given him hath written to you: as also in all epistles speaking in them of these things; in the which are certain things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable deprave, as also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own perdition. You therefore, brethren, fore-knowing, take heed lest led aside by the error of the unwise you fall away from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace and in knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and unto the day of eternity. Amen.

Thou o king didst see, and behold as it were one great statua: that statua, great and high of stature stood over against thee, and the sight thereof was terrible. The head of this statua was of the best gold, but the breast and the arms of silver, moreover the belly, and the thighs of brass: and the legs of iron, of the feet a certain part was of iron, and a certain of earth. Thou sawest so, till a stone was cut out of a mountain without hands: and it struck the statua on the iron, & earthen feet thereof, & brake them in pieces.

Then were the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and gold broken together, and brought as it were into the dust of a summer's floor, that are taken violently with the wind: and there was no place found for them: but the stone that struck the statua, was made a great mountain, and it filled all the earth. This is the dream: the interpretation also thereof we will tell before thee, o king. Thou art the king of kings: and the God of heaven hath given thee kingdom, and strength, and empire, and glory: and all things, wherein the children of men, and the beasts of the field do inhabit, the fowls also of the heaven he hath given in thy hand, and under thy dominion he hath appointed all things: thou therefore art the golden head.

And after thee shall rise up another kingdom less than thou of silver: and another third kingdom of brass, which shall rule over all the world. And the fourth kingdom shall be as it were iron. As iron breaketh into pieces, & tameth all things, so shall that break, and destroy all these. Moreover because thou sawest part of the feet, and of the toes of the potter's clay, and part of iron: the kingdom shall be divided, which notwithstanding shall rise of the ground of iron, according as thou sawest the iron mingled with the earth of clay. And the toes in part of iron, and in part of earth: in part the kingdom shall be whole, and in part broken.

And that thou sawest the iron mingled with the earth of clay, they shall be mingled indeed together with man's seed, but they shall not stick fast one to another, as iron cannot be mingled with earth. But in the days of those kingdoms the God of Heaven will raise up a kingdom, that shall not be dissipated for ever, and his kingdom shall not be delivered to another people: and it shall break in pieces, and shall consume all these kingdoms: and itself shall stand for ever. According as thou sawest, that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and brake the earth in pieces, and the iron, and the brass, and the silver, and the gold, the great God hath shewed the king what things are to come hereafter. & the dream is true, & the interpretation thereof faithful.

And I saw an Angel descending from heaven, having the key of the bottomless depth, and a great chain in his hand. And he apprehended the dragon the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he threw him into the depth, and shut him up, and sealed over him, that he seduce no more the nations, till the thousand years be consummate. And after these things he must be loosed a little time. And I saw seats: and they sat upon them, and judgement was given them, and the souls of the beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and that adored not the beast, nor his image, nor received his character in their foreheads or in their hands, and have lived, & reigned with Christ a thousand years.

The rest of the dead lived not, till the thousand years be consummate. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. In these the second death hath not power: but they shall be Priests of God and of Christ: and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years shall be consummate, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go forth and seduce the nations that are upon the four corners of the earth, Gog, and Magog, and shall gather them into battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they ascended upon the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the Saints, and the beloved city.

And there came down fire from God out of heaven, and devoured them: and the devil which seduced them, was cast into the pool of fire and brimstone, where both the beast & the false-prophet shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and one sitting upon it, from whose sight earth and heaven fled, and there was no place found for them. And I saw the dead, great and little, standing in the sight of the throne, and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is of life: and the dead were judged of those things which were written in the books according to their works.

And the sea gave the dead that were in it, and death and hell gave their dead that were in them, and it was judged of every one according to their works. And hell and death were cast into the pool of fire. This is the second death. And he that was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the pool of fire.

It is therefore more certain, and less hazardous, to await the fulfilment of the prophecy, than to be making surmises, and casting about for any names that may present themselves, inasmuch as many names can be found possessing the number mentioned; and the same question will, after all, remain unsolved. For if there are many names found possessing this number, it will be asked which among them shall the coming man bear.

It is not through a want of names containing the number of that name that I say this, but on account of the fear of God, and zeal for the truth: for the name Evanthas (ΕΥΑΝΘΑΣ) contains the required number, but I make no allegation regarding it. Then also Lateinos (ΛΑΤΕΙΝΟΣ) has the number six hundred and sixty-six; and it is a very probable [solution], this being the name of the last kingdom [of the four seen by Daniel].

For the Latins are they who at present bear rule: I will not, however, make any boast over this [coincidence]. Teitan too, (ΤΕΙΤΑΝ, the first syllable being written with the two Greek vowels ε and ι, among all the names which are found among us, is rather worthy of credit.

For it has in itself the predicted number, and is composed of six letters, each syllable containing three letters; and [the word itself] is ancient, and removed from ordinary use; for among our kings we find none bearing this name Titan, nor have any of the idols which are worshipped in public among the Greeks and barbarians this appellation. Among many persons, too, this name is accounted divine, so that even the sun is termed “Titan” by those who do now possess [the rule].

This word, too, contains a certain outward appearance of vengeance, and of one inflicting merited punishment because he (Antichrist) pretends that he vindicates the oppressed. And besides this, it is an ancient name, one worthy of credit, of royal dignity, and still further, a name belonging to a tyrant.

Inasmuch, then, as this name “Titan” has so much to recommend it, there is a strong degree of probability, that from among the many [names suggested], we infer, that perchance he who is to come shall be called “Titan.” We will not, however, incur the risk of pronouncing positively as to the name of Antichrist; for if it were necessary that his name should be distinctly revealed in this present time, it would have been announced by him who beheld the apocalyptic vision.

For that was seen no very long time since, but almost in our day, towards the end of Domitian’s reign.

“And now you know that which restrains, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season. For the mystery of lawlessness does already work: only there is one that restrains now, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of His mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation of His coming: even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan.”

One may naturally enquire, what is that which withholds, and after that would know, why Paul expresses it so obscurely. What then is it that withholds, that is, hinders him from being revealed? Some indeed say, the grace of the Spirit, but others the Roman empire, to whom I most of all accede. Wherefore? Because if he meant to say the Spirit, he would not have spoken obscurely, but plainly, that even now the grace of the Spirit, that is the gifts, withhold him.

And otherwise he ought now to have come, if he was about to come when the gifts ceased; for they have long since ceased. But because he said this of the Roman empire, he naturally glanced at it, and speaks covertly and darkly. For he did not wish to bring upon himself superfluous enmities, and useless dangers.

For if he had said that after a little while the Roman empire would be dissolved, they would immediately have even overwhelmed him, as a pestilent person, and all the faithful, as living and warring to this end. And he did not say that it will be quickly, although he is always saying it — but what? “that he may be revealed in his own season,” he says,

“For the mystery of lawlessness does already work.” He speaks here of Nero, as if he were the type of Antichrist. For he too wished to be thought a god. And he has well said, “the mystery”; that is, it works not openly, as the other, nor without shame.

For if there was found a man before that time, he means, who was not much behind Antichrist in wickedness, what wonder, if there shall now be one? But he did not also wish to point him out plainly: and this not from cowardice, but instructing us not to bring upon ourselves unnecessary enmities, when there is nothing to call for it. So indeed he also says here.

“Only there is one that restrains now, until he be taken out of the way,” that is, when the Roman empire is taken out of the way, then he shall come. And naturally. For as long as the fear of this empire lasts, no one will willingly exalt himself, but when that is dissolved, he will attack the anarchy, and endeavor to seize upon the government both of man and of God.

For as the kingdoms before this were destroyed, for example, that of the Medes by the Babylonians, that of the Babylonians by the Persians, that of the Persians by the Macedonians, that of the Macedonians by the Romans: so will this also be by the Antichrist, and he by Christ, and it will no longer withhold. And these things Daniel delivered to us with great clearness.

“And then,” he says, “shall be revealed the lawless one.” And what after this? The consolation is at hand. “Whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of His mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation of His coming, even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan.”

For as fire merely coming on even before its arrival makes torpid and consumes the little animals that are afar off; so also Christ, by His commandment only, and Coming. It is enough for Him to be present, and all these things are destroyed. He will put a stop to the deceit, by only appearing. Then who is this, whose coming is after the working of Satan, “With all display all power,” but nothing true, but for deceit. “And lying wonder,” he says, that is, false, or leading to falsehood.

I see that I must omit many of the statements of the gospels and epistles about this last judgment, that this volume may not become unduly long; but I can on no account omit what the Apostle Paul says, in writing to the Thessalonians, “We beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” etc.

No one can doubt that he wrote this of Antichrist and of the day of judgment, which he here calls the day of the Lord, nor that he declared that this day should not come unless he first came who is called the apostate—apostate, to wit, from the Lord God.

And if this may justly be said of all the ungodly, how much more of him? But it is uncertain in what temple he shall sit, whether in that ruin of the temple which was built by Solomon, or in the Church; for the apostle would not call the temple of any idol or demon the temple of God.

And on this account some think that in this passage Antichrist means not the prince himself alone, but his whole body, that is, the mass of men who adhere to him, along with him their prince; and they also think that we should render the Greek more exactly were we to read, not “in the temple of God,” but “for” or “as the temple of God,” as if he himself were the temple of God, the Church.

Then as for the words, “And now ye know what withholdeth,” i.e., ye know what hindrance or cause of delay there is, “that he might be revealed in his own time;” they show that he was unwilling to make an explicit statement, because he said that they knew. And thus we who have not their knowledge wish and are not able even with pains to understand what the apostle referred to, especially as his meaning is made still more obscure by what he adds.

For what does he mean by “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now holdeth, let him hold until he be taken out of the way: and then shall the wicked be revealed?” I frankly confess I do not know what he means. I will nevertheless mention such conjectures as I have heard or read.

Some think that the Apostle Paul referred to the Roman empire, and that he was unwilling to use language more explicit, lest he should incur the calumnious charge of wishing ill to the empire which it was hoped would be eternal; so that in saying, “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work,” he alluded to Nero, whose deeds already seemed to be as the deeds of Antichrist. And hence some suppose that he shall rise again and be Antichrist.

Others, again, suppose that he is not even dead, but that he was concealed that he might be supposed to have been killed, and that he now lives in concealment in the vigor of that same age which he had reached when he was believed to have perished, and will live until he is revealed in his own time and restored to his kingdom. But I wonder that men can be so audacious in their conjectures.

However, it is not absurd to believe that these words of the apostle, “Only he who now holdeth, let him hold until he be taken out of the way,” refer to the Roman empire, as if it were said, “Only he who now reigneth, let him reign until he be taken out of the way.” “And then shall the wicked be revealed:” no one doubts that this means Antichrist.

But others think that the words, “Ye know what withholdeth,” and “The mystery of iniquity worketh,” refer only to the wicked and the hypocrites who are in the Church, until they reach a number so great as to furnish Antichrist with a great people, and that this is the mystery of iniquity, because it seems hidden; also that the apostle is exhorting the faithful tenaciously to hold the faith they hold when he says, “Only he who now holdeth, let him hold until he be taken out of the way,” that is, until the mystery of iniquity which now is hidden departs from the Church.

For they suppose that it is to this same mystery John alludes when in his epistle he says, “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us.” As therefore there went out from the Church many heretics, whom John calls “many antichrists,” at that time prior to the end, and which John calls “the last time,” so in the end they shall go out who do not belong to Christ, but to that last Antichrist, and then he shall be revealed. Thus various, then, are the conjectural explanations of the obscure words of the apostle.

That which there is no doubt he said is this, that Christ will not come to judge quick and dead unless Antichrist, His adversary, first come to seduce those who are dead in soul; although their seduction is a result of God’s secret judgment already passed.

For, as it is said “his presence shall be after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all seduction of unrighteousness in them that perish.” For then shall Satan be loosed, and by means of that Antichrist shall work with all power in a lying though a wonderful manner.

It is commonly questioned whether these works are called “signs and lying wonders” because he is to deceive men’s senses by false appearances, or because the things he does, though they be true prodigies, shall be a lie to those who shall believe that such things could be done only by God, being ignorant of the devil’s power, and especially of such unexampled power as he shall then for the first time put forth.

For when he fell from heaven as fire, and at a stroke swept away from the holy Job his numerous household and his vast flocks, and then as a whirlwind rushed upon and smote the house and killed his children, these were not deceitful appearances, and yet they were the works of Satan to whom God had given this power. Why they are called signs and lying wonders, we shall then be more likely to know when the time itself arrives.

But whatever be the reason of the name, they shall be such signs and wonders as shall seduce those who shall deserve to be seduced, “because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved.” Neither did the apostle scruple to go on to say, “For this cause God shall send upon them the working of error that they should believe a lie.” For God shall send, because God shall permit the devil to do these things, the permission being by His own just judgment, though the doing of them is in pursuance of the devil’s unrighteous and malignant purpose, “that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” Therefore, being judged, they shall be seduced, and, being seduced, they shall be judged.

But, being judged, they shall be seduced by those secretly just and justly secret judgments of God, with which He has never ceased to judge since the first sin of the rational creatures; and, being seduced, they shall be judged in that last and manifest judgment administered by Jesus Christ, who was Himself most unjustly judged and shall most justly judge.

Daniel prophesies of the last judgment in such a way as to indicate that Antichrist shall first come, and to carry on his description to the eternal reign of the saints.

For when in prophetic vision he had seen four beasts, signifying four kingdoms, and the fourth conquered by a certain king, who is recognized as Antichrist, and after this the eternal kingdom of the Son of man, that is to say, of Christ, he says, ‘My spirit was terrified, I Daniel in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me,’ etc. Some have interpreted these four kingdoms as signifying those of the Assyrians, Persians, Macedonians, and Romans.

They who desire to understand the fitness of this interpretation may read Jerome’s book on Daniel, which is written with a sufficiency of care and erudition. But he who reads this passage, even half asleep, cannot fail to see that the kingdom of Antichrist shall fiercely, though for a short time, assail the Church before the last judgment of God shall introduce the eternal reign of the saints.

For it is patent from the context that the time, times, and half a time, means a year, and two years, and half a year, that is to say, three years and a half. Sometimes in Scripture the same thing is indicated by months. For though the word times seems to be used here in the Latin indefinitely, that is only because the Latins have no dual, as the Greeks have, and as the Hebrews also are said to have. Times, therefore, is used for two times.

As for the ten kings, whom, as it seems, Antichrist is to find in the person of ten individuals when he comes, I own I am afraid we may be deceived in this, and that he may come unexpectedly while there are not ten kings living in the Roman world. For what if this number ten signifies the whole number of kings who are to precede his coming, as totality is frequently symbolized by a thousand, or a hundred, or seven, or other numbers, which it is not necessary to recount?

In another place the same Daniel says, ‘And there shall be a time of trouble, such as was not since there was born a nation upon earth until that time: and in that time all Your people which shall be found written in the book shall be delivered. And many of them that sleep in the mound of earth shall arise, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting confusion.

And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and many of the just as the stars forever.’ This passage is very similar to the one we have quoted from the Gospel, at least so far as regards the resurrection of dead bodies.

For those who are there said to be ‘in the graves’ are here spoken of as ‘sleeping in the mound of earth,’ or, as others translate, ‘in the dust of earth.’ There it is said, ‘They shall come forth;’ so here, ‘They shall arise.’ There, ‘They that have done good, to the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment;’ here, ‘Some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting confusion.’ Neither is it to be supposed a difference, though in place of the expression in the Gospel, ‘All who are in their graves,’ the prophet does not say ‘all,’ but ‘many of them that sleep in the mound of earth.’ For many is sometimes used in Scripture for all.

Thus it was said to Abraham, ‘I have set you as the father of many nations,’ though in another place it was said to him, ‘In your seed shall all nations be blessed.’ Of such a resurrection it is said a little afterwards to the prophet himself, ‘And come and rest: for there is yet a day till the completion of the consummation; and you shall rest, and rise in your lot in the end of the days.’

heads. The heads of the beast, he says, are the kings of the world, who through the swelling of pride are said to be like exceeding high mountains, on whom there rests a wanton ungodliness, so that they both oppress by violence, and deceive by fraud.

five. Seeing that he had described in the number seven the fulness of worldly dominion, the last part of which, that is, the kingdom of Antichrist, had not yet come; he now accordingly testifies that five kings had passed away, that the sixth was present, that the seventh was to come.

short space. Because the Lord beholds us both proud and weak, he says, that the days which he has introduced as singularly evil, are mercifully shortened; in truth, that he may both alarm their pride by the adversity of the time, and refresh their weakness by the shortness of it.

eighth. Antichrist, who is to reign at the end of the age, because of the unity of the body of the ungodly of which he is the head, pertains to the number of the kingdoms of the world. But because of his singular power of wickedness, he is also retained in the order of his own proper place.

horns. The kingdoms of the world have not yet fully displayed their power in persecuting the Church. For although these even now have rule over the greatest part, yet there will be the stronger power of insane boasting when they have also deceived such by signs. Some understand it, that when the last persecution draws near, there will be ten kings who are to divide the world between them; according to the prophecy of Daniel also, who said of the fourth beast, ‘And he had ten horns; and behold another little horn came up from the midst of them, and three of the first horns were plucked up before his face;’ and that Antichrist who should arise from Babylon, should subdue the king of Egypt, and of Africa, and that after they were slain, seven other kings should also submit their necks to the conqueror. But others say that Antichrist is placed in the number eleven, to signify prevarication. For eleven indicates a departure from the perfection of the number ten.

as kings. He says, ‘as kings,’ because they only reign as in a dream, who oppose the kingdom of Christ.

mind. That is, with like consent they make war for the devil with all their will. For this is to receive a kingdom after the beast, by imitating the devil to be adversaries of Christ.

overcome. That the weakness of man might not fear the cruelty of the old enemy, he describes the beast which has seven heads, and is armed with the horns of a secular kingdom, as vanquished by Christ triumphant and then, to denote that He is triumphant in His own, he has added the following.

chosen. He has well premised chosen, for ‘many are called, but few chosen.’