to her, “Lady, I do.” “Listen then, and give ear to the glories of God.”46 And then I heard
from her, magnificently and admirably, things which my memory could not retain. For all
the words were terrible, such as man could not endure.47 The last words, however, I did
remember; for they were useful to us, and gentle.48 “Lo, the God of powers, who by His in-
visible strong power and great wisdom has created the world, and by His glorious counsel
has surrounded His creation with beauty, and by His strong word has fixed the heavens and
laid the foundations of the earth upon the waters, and by His own wisdom and providence49
has created His holy50 Church, which He has blessed, lo! He removes51 the heavens and the
mountains,52 the hills and the seas, and all things become plain to His elect, that He may
bestow on them the blessing which He has promised them,53 with much glory and joy, if
only they shall keep the commandments of God which they have received in great faith.”
Chap. IV.
When she had ended her reading, she rose from the chair, and four young men came
and carried off the chair and went away to the east. And she called me to herself and touched
my breast, and said to me, “Have you been pleased with my reading?” And I say to her,
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“Lady, the last words please me, but the first are cruel and harsh.” Then she said to me, “The
last are for the righteous: the first are for heathens and apostates.” And while she spoke to
me, two men appeared and raised her on their shoulders, and they went to where the chair
was in the east. With joyful countenance did she depart; and as she went, she said to me,
“Behave like a man,54 Hermas.”
46 And give ear to the glories of God, omitted in Vat.
47 And then … her. And unfolding a book, she read gloriously, magnificently, and admirably.—Vat. [Dan.
x. 9.]
48 Gentle. For they were few and useful to us.—Vat.
49 By His own wisdom and providence. By His mighty power.—Vat., Pal. [Scripture is here distilled like the
dew. Prov. iii. 19. Ps. xxiv. 2, and marginal references.]
50 Holy omitted by Lips.
51 Removes. He will remove.—Vat.
52 See 2 Pet. iii. 5.
53 [Isa. lxv. 22. See Faber’s Historical Inquiry, as to the primitive idea of the elect, book ii. 2. New York, 1840.]
54 Be strong, or be made strong.—Vat. [1 Cor. xvi. 13.]
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Vision First. Against Filthy and Proud Thoughts, and the Carelessness of…